Eyes of Blue
by ABCCJPTT
Summary: What happens if the Triwizard Tournament came out differently? Femmeslash ChoFleur
1. Chapter 1

**Note **I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters. This story is a femmeslash, so if you don't like that, then…why'd you click on the link? Lol, well, anyways, Cho/Fleur story. For the sake of the reader, I've decided not to attempt a French accent for Fleur. I'd probably mess up too badly. I'll attempt it only with Madame Maxime. Ew, well, Enjoy!

Eyes of Blue

Chapter 1

"We are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

The Great Hall broke out into a buzz as people began whispering excitedly to one another. It was the event of a lifetime! It had been banned long ago due to an enormous death toll, but apparently, it was being brought back.

"Hey Cho, you should enter it. I bet you could do a spectacular job. You're the smartest person in the school like that Gryffindor girl, only much more pretty," said Marietta Edgecome as she nudged her in the side.

Being seventeen, Cho Chang was able to participate in the magical tournament. All she had to do was submit her name to the impartial selector and she'd have a chance at being chosen.

However, she didn't exactly enjoy the thought of being put in possible mortal danger, no matter how 'safe' Dumbledore claimed it would be. She smiled, but shook her head and decided to listen to what he was saying.

"…delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year."

Upon hearing the news of new people coming from another foreign magical school made the entire Hall light up with more conversation. There were usually never any visitors in Hogwarts besides teachers and staff. The concept of other students thrilled them.

Dumbledore flashed a big, toothy grin and then clapped his hands signaling the end of the introduction feast.

The Ravenclaw students were led back to their dormitories in the west tower and were put to bed. Two people were assigned to a room if they were fifth years in the Ravenclaw house.

Cho sighed and looked around at her room. Blue silk lined with bronze ran from all four corners of the room. The same material was draped upon the four-poster beds. Moving tapestries of previous Ravenclaws adorned the side walls. There were two beds, but she scanned the room.

Empty.

"I guess nobody wanted to share a dorm with me." She tossed her bag near the foot of a four-poster bed and laid down on top of the cobalt satin sheets.

"The Triwizard Tournament… wow. I can't believe I'd actually see one in all my years in this school. Perhaps…I will participate. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity after all. Besides, if it does continue, I will have already graduated. Yeah, I think I will submit my name."

She closed her eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep thinking about the Triwizard Tournament and their soon-to-be visitors.

Time flew by and sooner than she had liked, the sun had already begun its ascent into the sky. Sunlight flooded through her tall windows and pooled on the floor, and her face, in yellow glowing spots.

Shielding her eyes and yawning, she dragged herself groggily out of bed. She shook her head and glanced sleepily over at the still empty, and perfectly made bed.

"It's kind of lonely in here," she said to nobody in particular. Then she laughed softly, "So lonely, that I'm beginning to talk to myself for company. Almost pathetic."

Pulling on some fresh clothes and a clean robe, Cho began walking down to the common room to meet up with Marietta. The cheerful yet snobby girl was her best friend, even if her personality seemed a tad bit fake. Almost sycophantic to her, the constant compliments were nearly unbearable.

She mumbled a 'hi' and they began walking to the Great Hall for some breakfast. Marietta continued to ramble on and on about the latest gossip that she had heard in her dorm, but Cho was only half paying attention.

When they sat down, she started to listen closer when the girl began to talk about the Triwizard Tournament and the other arriving schools.

She wagged a piece of toast in front of Cho, "You know, those Beauxbaton students, they're used to high-quality stuff. Ornate decorations, you know? They're all stuck-up and snobby with no personality whatsoever."

Cho stifled a laugh at that comment, mostly because of the person who said it. She contained her giggles and began buttering some toast, "Tell me more about the Beauxbaton people."

Looking into the air as if it held the answers, Marietta shrugged, "Well, I do know that some of them have French ancestry. They're… well, only suitable in those fancy conditions like marble floors and diamond encrusted stuff. I swear they're such high-maintenance people."

Marietta took another bite and began wagging the poor piece of toast again, "But those Durmstrang people, they're a bunch of brutes. Come from Romania or something like that. I'm not sure, but all I know is that famous Quidditch person everyone is crazy about goes to school there."

Cho took a bite of her buttered toast and looked at her, "You mean Viktor Krum? Yeah, he's one of the best seekers, and youngest ones too. He's pretty amazing."

Marietta smiled slyly, "Well, I'd bet that you could put the moves on him when he gets here, seeing as how you're both seekers…"

"What? That's gross, I don't even know him!" exclaimed Cho, nearly sputtering out her food in the process.

"No, I meant your Quidditch moves. I bet you could beat him any day. What did you think I meant?" Marietta stared at her strangely, but went back to devouring her toast.

Laughing at her own stupidity, Cho put down her food and stood up. "I think that I'm just going to go back to my room real quick before I go to my classes. I…need to get some stuff. See ya."

Of course it was a lie, but as Cho started walking back to her room for a little bit of privacy, Harry stopped her on her way out of the Great Hall.

He shuffled his feet awkwardly, "Hi Cho."

She stared at him equally uncomfortable, "Er… hi Harry."

He smiled and then walked back to Ron and Hermione, who had been sitting at the nearby Gryffindor table. She saw Ron smile sweetly and then smack him on the head and she could faintly hear him say 'you bloody idiot.'

"Adorable, but ridiculous." She continued on to the Ravenclaw tower. The O.W.L. exams were this year for Cho, and so she needed to be more attentive in class. She needed to have 'constant vigilance' as Mad-Eye Moody said.

She had heard from her younger Ravenclaw friends that he was, indeed, mad. A very weird teacher, they had said, one of the strangest since perhaps Professor Lupin, though he was considered strange only because he was a werewolf.

It was too bad that Quidditch would not be held this year though.

"Or possibly it is a good thing. I'd have time to actually study more instead of having games, no matter how much I love the sport," she said to herself.

She grabbed some extra quills from her bag just in case, and an extra bottle of ink before walking down to her class with the Hufflepuffs.

And that was how her life was like. That was how each and every day pretty much began, except without Harry's clumsy hello.

As the weeks went by, the school began to have a different air about itself. The students were more and more anxious as October started to get closer, which would mark the arrival of the guests and the picking of Triwizard champions.

Even the teachers were in a state of unrest. Filch was cleaning everything thoroughly while Dumbledore himself walked down hallways, pointing his wand and cleaning objects as he passed.

The suits of armor shined brilliantly, and the once dust-covered tapestries were now shaken down and smacked clean. All of the portraits received a cleaning, despite some shouts of pain from all the chaffing and rubbing from soapy rags.

As kids counted the weeks, those weeks eventually turned into days, which in turn led to hours.

A large sign was posted at the base of a marble staircase right near the entrance hall that stated the arrival time of their visitors. Friday the thirtieth of October at 6 o'clock was their scheduled appearance, and that day was the thirtieth of October, and it was presently 5:40.

Cho had gotten out of her class a while ago, but she was presently putting away all of her belongings along with her book bag. She tied her hair up into a high ponytail for a change, and stuck an ornamental hairpiece in it.

She looked in the mirror and realized this wasn't how she normally was. Shaking her head, she sighed, "Only for one night, only for these guests."

She met up with Marietta in the common room and then they both went down to the school's front grounds to meet the people.

It was a chilly night outside, and some late night misty fog began to roll in. After some waiting, Cho glanced at her wristwatch underneath her cloak and the minute hand struck twelve.

As if on cue, a floating carriage being pulled by winged horses built like elephants came first, signaling the arrival of the Beauxbatons.

Madame Maxime stepped out of the carriage first and strode gracefully over towards Dumbledore.

"How are you Dumbly-dorr? I 'ope I find you well. Muzt be 'n tip-top shape to go aginz uz, right?" her heavy French accent gave way as she let out a hearty laugh. She waved at her students to follow her in.

The rather short line of students in light silk robes followed her, walking in an almost equally smoothly way. Their graceful movements along with their thin and nearly transparent robes made it appear as if they were gliding along behind her.

Cho took a step to her side as the giant lady walked by and into the castle. She stared at the faces of the students who followed, and none looked too happy. They all shared the same apprehensive, and freezing look on their features.

One person however, caught her attention. Due to the shawl and mufflers wrapped around the person's head, all she could see were a pair of striking blue eyes. They shifted back and forth and then stared straight at her for a fleeting moment before the person continued walking on into the warm halls of Hogwarts.

The Durmstrang students followed shortly afterwards in their ship. Karkaroff emerged from the vessel and greeted Dumbledore with a welcoming smile, though it seemed as if it were forced through his clenched teeth.

Marietta patted Cho's shoulder, pointing at the line of bulky students in furry robes appear, "Look, it's that…Viktor Krum guy. That was his name, right? Viktor. Yes, okay. I don't suppose you want his autograph do you?"

Cho shook her head and began sneaking back to the castle, "It's cold out here. I think I'm going to head back inside where it's warmer. See you there."

Weaving through the mass of bodies, and giddy fan girls screaming for Viktor, she slipped past some prefects and teachers in order to make it inside the warm haven that was the Great Hall.

The Beauxbaton students were standing at the back of the hall behind Madame Maxime. They still had not shed their shawls and scarves, even though the Great Hall was very warm due to the floating candles and torches. Most of them were shivering still, and they were looking rather uncomfortable.

She tried to find the person with the amazing eyes, but they all looked the same in their uniforms.

A minute later, the Durmstrang people came into the Great Hall followed by the rest of the Hogwarts students.

Cho sat on the corner of the Ravenclaw table and Dumbledore clapped his hands above the clamoring of appearing plates and talking students.

"Our special guests may choose to sit where they please. I hope that you'll find that all of our houses are particularly welcoming to all."

Marietta made her way through the crowd toward Cho, but let out a silent shriek of annoyance as a student in the thin silk took the space next to her.

She stood behind the Beauxbaton person and put her hands on her hips. "Excuse me? I was sitting there. Would you please move somewhere else?"

The person turned around and stared sharply at her with striking blue eyes. "I thought your headmaster said that every house would be welcoming? You're rather rude to your guests. Oh, and I will not move, but I believe you will; somewhere else. Besides, you weren't physically sitting here at the time, so that technically means you weren't siting here."

She turned back around and glanced around as if nothing happened, just glaring distastefully at the medieval suits of armor and cold stone.

Looking as if she were slapped in the face, Marietta turned to Cho, "Hey! Help me out here!"

The black-haired beauty shrugged her shoulders and grinned, a twinkle in her eye, "What can I say? They are our guests, so if the person wants to sit here, I believe you can do nothing about it."

She turned around and stifled the rising laughter that was choking up in her throat. Marietta let out a snort of indignation and stormed off to the other end of the Ravenclaw table.

The person beneath all of the scarves and shawls removed the articles of clothing. Cho couldn't help but stare as long silvery blonde hair tumbled out and trickled down exquisitely behind her shoulders. She turned her head and stared deeply into Cho's dark black eyes with her clear-cutting blue ones. Her mouth upturned into a smug but friendly smile.

"Hi. Was that girl your friend?" her voice was smooth and sophisticated and Cho suddenly realized she was just staring into those deep blue eyes before she mentally smacked herself.

"Oh…yes, she was, I guess, maybe." She trailed off, suddenly aware of how stupid she must have sounded, and how she felt self-conscious about her actions around this blonde goddess.

She laughed, "You are a funny one. How can you not be sure if she is your friend or not? Oh look, there is food." Dumbledore had already said the introductions of the staff, and so the food had appeared on the table.

Picking up a piece of chicken with a look of disgust, the girl dropped it back on the platter. She spooned some bouillabaisse into a bowl and took a sip of it, her face cringing. "Doesn't your school have anything better than this?"

Cho laughed as she took a sip of it, and then her face also contorted into a look of aversion. This time it was the foreign girl's turn to laugh. "See, you do not like it either."

Black locks slipped over her shoulder as she shook her head, "No… it's not that good. Try some of the pot roast, I believe it should taste a bit more appetizing than these things."

So the blonde stabbed a piece of pot roast with her fork, placing it perfectly in the center of her plate. She sampled a piece, chewed thoughtfully, and then kept eating it, apparently satisfied with its flavor.

Eventually, the girl began eating more of the bouillabaisse, even though she had earlier said she disliked it.

While she sipped, she glared at Cho's smiling face, "What? I am hungry."

Even still, she went to go ask some red-headed Gryffindor for some more. The freckled face nearly exploded as she talked to him.

The Beauxbaton sat back down with the bowl and frowned, "Who was that boy? He acted as if he's never seen a girl before."

Cho shrugged and looked around the room. She realized that many of the boys in the Great Hall were staring at the girl sitting beside her and reacting in the same way. Shaking her head, she responded, "I think his name is Weasley. Well, his last name anyways. He's friends with the Harry Potter boy."

Her eyebrow arched, "Potter? That little boy? Ah, the one whom everyone speaks of, the 'boy who lived.' I do not see anything special in him. He appears to be just as regular as everyone else in this room. Oh, your headmaster has stood up."

Dumbledore clapped his hands together again, which meant he wanted the attention of the students.

"I realize that our guests must be terribly tired from their long trips over here, so I shall make this short. As you all know, the Triwizard Tournament will host three champions, one from each school, but you must enter your name, in our impartial judge."

He tapped his wand on the desk and a wooden old cup appeared on the table for all to see. It looked normal, however, it was very magically powerful.

"The Goblet of Fire shall decide who is right for the tournament. Those who are of seventeen and older may participate in this glorious event. The goblet shall reside near the entrance hall, and all you must do is drop a slip of parchment with your name and school in its flames. I shall also draw an age line, so those who are younger should not even try anything. And with that, I bid you all farewell. May your stay be comfortable and enjoyable."

Cho looked back at where her plate formerly was, but only saw empty table. She stood up and smoothed out her black robes. Looking at the girl who was next to her, she saw her rise up on her two feet, and standing up straight, the girl now seemed much taller than herself.

Flashing her a smile, Cho began walking towards the Ravenclaw group, "It was nice to meet you. I guess I might see you some other time, yes?"

The girl's blue eyes stared straight back at her, and though a grin tugged at her lips, she did not smile, "Perhaps."

And with that, they both walked away. Cho joined up with the rest of Ravenclaw as they went to the west tower. Marietta was fuming.

"How could you possibly let that…that Beauxbaton snob steal my seat? I regularly sit there next to you and you know that! How could you?" her voice sounded mostly anger, but a there was a tinge of hurt behind it.

Cho looked at her before heading into her own dormitory, "I'm not sure. She was a guest though." The other girl threw up her hands in frustration and stomped away. Giggling under her breath as she opened the door, Cho muttered, "I really couldn't tell who was the snob, Marietta or that…girl."

She slapped her hand to her forehead. How could she be so brainless? She forgot to get the name of the girl who sat next to her that evening, and what's worse was she forgot to introduce herself.

"I probably won't see her that much anyways." Cho walked into her empty room and looked out the windows. Nothing but sparkling stars and an illuminated moon in view. She walked over to close the silk curtains.

Pulling off her robe and placing it neatly beside her bed, Cho sat down on the satin sheets and once again stared at the empty bed. True, being a fifth year and having only one other dorm occupant was nicer than the previous three, but it was lonely, especially if one had no company at all.

Reaching into her trunk, Cho pulled out a pair long, solid black pajama bottoms and a matching long sleeve pajama top. She set them on her bed and pulled off her top.

"What I wouldn't give to have a person to room with."

Then the door opened.

Cho practically screamed as she turned her back to the door and scrambled to get a shirt on. It didn't matter which one, the pajama top, the muggle clothing, either one would have worked.

Her face flared red as she struggled to button it up as quickly as possible, but realized that the buttons were off by one, so she had to start all over again. She turned her head around to see what insane person had opened her door at this hour. Stunned, she momentarily forgot her pajama button problem, her mouth agape.

"The girl from the welcoming feast…?"

The girl sauntered in with Madame Maxime behind her, who had to crouch as she walked through the doorway. She was carrying a large suitcase in one arm and a trunk in the other.

Silky blue robes followed the girl as she examined the satin sheets and the silky curtains. She nodded here and there and then turned back to Madame Maxime.

"This dorm is quite nice. I thank you for showing it to me."

The giant lady shook her head, "It wuz zee 'eadmaztaer, Dumbly-dorr. He zaid zat zis wuz zee only room with only one person in it in this Ravenclaw side. I 'ope you like it and," she looked at Cho, who had seemed virtually invisible throughout the whole ordeal, "if zis gerl ever dizturbs you too much, tell me and I shall move you."

And with that, the headmistress of Beauxbaton crouched and walked out of the room, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Cho turned from the door to her new roommate. The blonde girl was already staring back at her with a mocking smile, "You don't need to freak out so much. We are both girls."

Unsure about what she was saying, Cho looked back down and realized her pajama top was not buttoned at all anymore.

"Now how did that happen…?" she blushed and tried to button them up as calmly as possible, despite the deep gaze of the girl's icy blue eyes. Revealing her chest to a stranger on accident wasn't exactly the best situation she could have gotten into.

As soon as she finished them, she looked up and let out a little gasp of surprise, as her roommate was barely a few feet from her.

She had sat next to her on the bed and looked at her. Her face inched closer and closer causing Cho's heartbeat to pound wildly in her chest. Hammering away, she thought that even the girl could hear it. Her face a mere foot away she laughed.

"You are a funny one."

She pulled back and stood up, throwing a mysterious sideways glance back at her, "My name is Fleur Delacour from Beauxbaton." She stuck out her hand.

Cho stared at it and blinked dumbly. The girl's actions were so unpredictable, it was just too odd for her to guess what she'd do next. Her cool composure never let her get a grasp on what she was thinking.

She grasped the hand lightly and shook it, amazed at how delicate and soft it was, "My name is Cho Chang."

Fleur smiled, though it was an empty one. It was the kind of smile that people give to others whom they don't know, or when they're in some sort of parade and they're just waving to strangers.

Cho finished changing and they both got into their own beds. Even though the Fleur girl seemed a bit superficial, she was happy to have a roommate. Appearances could be deceiving anyways. The room didn't feel too lonely and empty anymore.

She smiled contently.


	2. Chapter 2

Eyes of Blue

Chapter 2

Twenty-four hours.

That was all the time that everyone had to submit their name to the goblet of fire. It was a Saturday, so students had time to put their name into the flickering blue flames.

One of the lower classmen in Ravenclaw had already tried, and Cho, along with the rest of the house, laughed at the large beard that grew from the girl named Fawcett. The Weasley twins from Gryffindor had tried the same thing as well, but they grew even bigger beards.

Cho had thought about putting her name in a few times, but she never went farther than taking out a scrap of parchment paper. She never felt like she was qualified enough to participate in such an event.

The time to submit one's name into the goblet was coming to a close as the Durmstrang lot all put their names into it. Only a few hours left before it would be completely done.

Alone in her room, Cho sat on her bed with a spread of books circled in front of her. Scribbling furiously the potions notes that were due in two days, she barely noticed Fleur walk in.

"Doing homework on a Saturday? You Ravenclaws are smart," she remarked as she sat down on her own bed facing Cho's.

Flicking some stray black hair behind her, Cho's eyes looked up, but she ignored the comment and continued writing.

Fleur stretched out her legs and rested against the headrest.

"You know, the goblet will no longer accept entries in a short while. Why don't you enter your name? If you're in this house, you must be smart, and brainy people always know what to do under hot situations."

Dark black eyes looked up into cold blue ones. Her dark eyebrow curved up.

"What makes you think I'm smart? I could just be feigning intelligence, and could really be just an ignorant fool. Besides, I am not fit for the Triwizard Tournament."

Fleur smiled as she stood up, a quill and a piece of parchment in her hand, "I believe it is worth a try."

Cho stared at her, then down at her books, and then back at the parchment in her hand. Shaking her head, she waved her over so that she could write her name on the scrap. "I'll put it in the goblet, but I know I won't be chosen."

She closed her books and partially finished potions notes and then lazily slid off the bed. Running a quick brush through her semi-tangled hair, Cho folded the piece of parchment up into a small neat square before walking off to the center hall.

Fleur was trailing behind her, and multiple boys seemed to be trailing after Fleur. Finally arriving at the cup, Dumbledore was already standing at its side, calling for any last entries.

Cho strode up and slipped her name in nonchalantly. However, to the rest of the circle of kids that were surrounding it, it was a tremendous show. They all burst into applause and even some of the boys hooted.

Shaking her head in exasperation, she walked past the crowd of students and to the Great Hall. She sat down in her usual place; the corner space on the Ravenclaw table. Marietta spotted her and jogged over, but let out another silent scream of anger as Fleur beat her to it.

Pointing at her and seething with unheard anger, she grinded her teeth, and continued to point. Passing people stopped to stare at what she was doing, but just laughed because she looked plain ridiculous. She stomped the ground hard and then walked away.

Cho was watching out of the corner of her eye and laughed inwardly. Staring at her plate, a pumpkin muffin appeared out of nowhere and she picked it up.

Fleur did the same, but a miniature one popped up. She daintily took a bite.

"You seem very popular with the guys," said Cho as she noticed the swarm of men who suddenly decided to sit as close to Ravenclaw tables as possible.

Taking another small bite, she merely nodded as if it were normal, "That is to be expected. My grandmother was a veela, so that must be present in my genes right now. But for being full human, you don't do too badly either."

Cho smiled, but then realized what she meant as they both spotted Harry staring at her openly.

"Oh, him." Her grin subsided as she took another bite of muffin and sighed as Harry practically drooled from both hunger and his daydreaming fantasies.

"He is not exactly the cutest boy out there, but he does have the innocent hero act going for him. Some girls find that rather attractive. Personally, it doesn't suit me, but I don't know, what do you think?" asked Fleur as she finished the tiny breakfast muffin.

Thinking about Harry, Cho decided that she didn't, and for some reason, couldn't feel anything for him. Shaking her head, she stood up leaving her muffin half-eaten.

"Nothing."

As time drew closer to the great Halloween feast, and the announcement of the champions, more and more gossip began to spread about who would be chosen from the schools.

For Durmstrang, the obvious choice was Viktor Krum. He was the superior student in the school, and Karkaroff didn't even try to hide his favoritism for the young prodigy.

In the Beauxbaton school, it seemed like every student had a fair chance at being selected, but Fleur had the most popular reputation. Maybe it was just because of her stunning looks that all the guys liked her, but she was still well-liked nonetheless.

Hogwarts however… there were so many students that had put their name into goblet. There was a multitude of people who were completely able of performing any dangerous task that the tournament had to offer.

Ever since Cho put her name in the fire, everybody has been flashing her smiles in the hallways saying that she's a shoo-in for the Hogwarts champion. Cedric Diggory was another possible person, who was equally as popular, and equally as talented, as the Ravenclaw girl.

However, when the feast arrived, all sorts of names started to get whispered back and forth.

"I think it's going to be Cedric. Ooh he's so cute! Er…but he's strong too! Not just the cute part."

"Naw, you're wrong, it's going to be Cho. She's the seeker for Ravenclaw, so she has all the coordination she needs. Plus, she's smart."

"You're both mistaken! I swear it'll be Malfoy. He's got that malicious attitude. No monster would be able to go against that."

"Dimwit, Malfoy isn't even old enough. Go talk somewhere else where we can't hear you."

Most people ignored others' comments and just stuck to what they thought would happen. As they all entered the Great Hall, some of them stopped their conversations momentarily to look at the numerous festive trimmings. Even a few of the Beauxbaton students were left in awe before they remembered that their school was more sophisticated.

Black and orange silk streamers were strung all around the tall walls of the room. Above the students' heads, magical bats were flying in a specific pattern while a very realistic pattern of a cloudy night appeared above, giving off the feeling of being outside. Floating candles and lit pumpkins were placed around the room making the whole room glow.

Cho sat down in her regular seat, as did Fleur. Marietta had given up trying to beat the blonde beauty to the space so she had found another spot on the other end next to Terry Boot.

Dumbledore stood up from his seat in the middle of the staff table. His eyes swept across the room above his half-mooned spectacles. He smiled at everyone.

"Tonight is a wondrous night! The goblet shall be giving us our names shortly, but in the meantime, I suggest we fill our stomachs with some Halloween delights. Enjoy your food."

Colorful pies popped up in the middle of each table along with other treats like Cornish pasties and baked pumpkin. All sorts of potatoes, cooked, raw, and sliced, were also placed in baskets all around.

None of the foods that were at the welcoming feast were present at this Halloween one. Fleur glared skeptically at a seemingly menacing potato. Cringing, she poked it with a fork and decided it was safe to eat.

"I do not understand. Beauxbaton has the finest foods, but this Hogwarts school, it has primeval things. Potatoes? Look, this is not even cooked."

Cho took a bite of some roast chicken that she had put on her plate and observed Fleur as she continually poked the potato over and over until little holes had appeared all over the outer skin. After a long while of investigating, poking, and hesitant bites, Fleur glared as Cho chuckled at her.

"You know, the food isn't poisoned. Just eat the stuff."

And so the dinner went on, with Fleur relentlessly complaining and Cho just listening.

Time passed, and just as Fleur had finished her evil potato, reaching for a slice of pumpkin pie, the food disappeared. She let out a 'humph' sound as she crossed her arms.

Dumbledore stood up and addressed the students.

"I hope you have found your stay here most enjoyable so far," Fleur snorted, "but I am sorry for having to cut your dinner short. The Goblet has begun to spark red, which means that it is ready to present the names of the champions."

Food forgotten, everyone leaned a bit closer as Dumbledore tapped his wand on the desk three times and the wooden cup appeared. The blue flames were flickering madly as they licked the air a few feet up.

All eyes were on the fire in silence as they waited for something to happen. Dumbledore's creased face turned into a smile as the flame turned a crimson red color. Sparks shot out in every which way as a piece of paper was ejected from the Goblet.

He snatched it quickly with his bony, ancient hand and adjusted his glasses as he cleared his throat.

"Our Durmstrang champion shall be… Viktor Krum." Rowdy applause rose up from the Slytherin table as both the Hogwarts and Durmstrang people cheered. Viktor stood up awkwardly from his seat and walked over to the side chamber.

After the applause died down, the goblet began to spark once more as the bloody flames shot out another scrap of paper. Dumbledore grabbed it again and smiled.

"Our Beauxbaton champion shall be… Fleur Delacour." Cho grinned widely at her as Fleur stood up. She pushed her long platinum hair behind her sending ripples through the silky strands as she proceeded to the chamber. Her face showed no emotion save a small self-satisfied grin.

Cho watched her walk to the side chamber, and before the girl disappeared into the mysterious room, she shot her a sharp look with her icy blue eyes. The small grin had faded before she stepped foot into the room.

Everyone was still cheering for her, except the other Beauxbaton students, who were all sorely disappointed. The male populace was especially enthusiastic at the idea of staring at Fleur all throughout her competitions.

After the hoots and clapping diminished, Dumbledore cleared his throat; a piece of paper already in his wrinkled hands.

"Our Hogwarts champion shall be…"

Cho closed her eyes. What if she was chosen? Suddenly the thought of competing against Fleur in life and death situations weren't all that appealing. She didn't really want to win or lose against her. Maybe she wouldn't be chosen.

"…Cedric Diggory."

The crowd burst into the loudest clapping ever heard so far, except for Ron, but nobody heard him yelling above the cacophony of other sounds. Cho silently thanked the Goblet for not choosing her.

She looked at the guy stand up from the Hufflepuff table and make his way towards the chamber. As he walked between the tables, he endured a sort of gauntlet of pats on the back from nearly every person he passed.

They gave him approving smiles.

"And so this concludes our feast! I hope you enjoyed eating our wonderful treats and gazing at our marvelous decorations. Although these bothersome bats seem to keep landing on my hat…" Dumbledore swatted at his pointed hat as the magical bats swarmed around it.

He began to walk away, and some of the students even stood up, but before they could move too far, the goblet sparked up again.

Another small piece of parchment shot out but before Dumbledore could grab it, a bat swooped down and snatched it with its little talons.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The unfortunate bat slumped to the ground dead as the green light shot out from his wand. The headmaster picked up the piece of paper. Everyone, students, staff, and all, stared in horror at Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat nervously.

"Er…sir, you just used an unforgivable curse in front of the students. I do not believe that was a very rational decision… It was just a magical bat."

He looked up at the rest of the room and smiled.

"Do forgive me."

His apology was met with silent nods and a small snicker as Draco chuckled under his breath calling him a 'crackpot' headmaster. After everyone was over the shock of seeing one of the worst curses in history, they settled down a little bit as Dumbledore began to speak again.

"It appears we have another champion… Harry Potter."

The hall erupted into anger as all the Slytherins, Beauxbaton, and Durmstrang students began to protest.

Harry stood up hesitantly with a look of utter disbelief on his face. He slowly made his way over to the side room, passing the Ravenclaw table on his way. Multiple faces scorned him as he walked, obviously upset that he had to steal the spotlight away from Cedric.

"Give someone else a chance drama king."

"Stealing the happiness from Cedric just because you weren't chosen? You're such a terrible person."

Whispered insults and comments were thrown his way as he approached the end of his bombardment. Cho was sitting on the edge of the table, the last person he would see before entering the chamber. With his head still held up high despite the circumstances, he took one look at her and suddenly pushed it down.

She was giving him the most demeaning look that he has ever seen on her face. Feeling utterly terrible about something he didn't even do, he entered the dark chamber and saw everybody look at him.

Fleur's bitter blue eyes stared him down, "What are _you _ doing here? Does your headmaster have something else to ask of us?"

The sound of students leaving the hall was heard as Dumbledore appeared in the chamber. "Harry has also been chosen by the goblet. I hope you have a very good explanation as to why it shot your name out."

He stared at the dark-haired boy with the same look Cho had given him, but with less intensity. Before he could speak, Fleur stormed up and put her hands on her hips defiantly. She wagged her pointed finger in Harry's face.

"Zis little boy cannot participate in this tournament! He is underage, unskillful, and a rule-breaker! He is underneath the age requirement, and that would also mean that Hogwarts has two champions. It's an outrage!"

Madame Maxime tried to calm down Fleur as Dumbledore tried to sort out the unusual mistake with Karkaroff.

Meanwhile, Cho was in her dormitory resting on her bed with her hands behind her head thinking. She hadn't been chosen, but she figured it was a good thing. That way, she wouldn't have to go against Fleur.

_ Then again, how skilled is she? She seems too dainty to want to get dirty to do the tasks. Oh no, she might break a fingernail trying to pick up a rock. Haha. _

She chuckled at her thoughts as she pictured Fleur in her mind crying over a broken fingernail complaining about the mud on her silk robes.

"She won't last. Not with Cedric and Viktor…and Harry." She paused, thinking about the shy boy who had always stumbled out a nervous 'hi' to her every time he saw her passing in the hallways. She frowned.

"He must have rigged it, that boy. If he could survive the killing curse from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, then he could surely bypass Dumbledore's 'simple' age line protection thing. He's a cheater, I just know it."

Eventually, her eyes drooped down and she drifted off into a light sleep.

Fleur had gotten out of the meeting with the champions and their headmasters. She was furious at the decision they had reached. Her delicate fists were clenched into tight balls as she stomped to her dormitory.

"That boy is despicable! And his headmaster is no better! Allowing two Hogwarts champions, this is just unfair and unreasonable. However, beating them shall make victory all the better."

She swung open the door to her dormitory and walked in, not bothering to be silent about her entrance. It was nearly midnight, and her roommate was already asleep. Staring at the black-haired girl sleeping calmed her down somewhat.

Pulling on her nightgown, she climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling.

"This is an atrocity. He's a cheater, I just know it." She mumbled into her pillow.

"That's what I said."

Cho was leaning up slightly in her bed, staring in Fleur's direction smiling. They both laughed before falling asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

** (note) **Well, crap. I have made a blatant mistake on Cho's age and year. Lol, thank you to… err… 'M' for pointing that out to me. Technically, she would be around 15 or 16 years old if she were taking O.W.L. exams. Haha, I saw her age as 17 in an internet source, but that might be the person who is playing her character in the movie. Oh, and as a side note, I am getting much of my information (about food names and character backgrounds) from both the books and that's a good place for everything Harry Potter. As for my fanfic! Err… Cho will be 17 but…um…HELD BACK A YEAR! Hell, I have no idea. She's 17, lets just leave it at that. How she ended up in 5th year, is up to your imagination.

Eyes of Blue

Chapter 3

Flaming nostrils with a scaly thick, green hide, stared at her as she paced about the tent anxiously. Fleur stared straight back at the small, moving figurine in her palm as she retraced Cedric's nervous path. Viktor, Harry, and her were the ones left in the tent as the Hufflepuff had gone out first.

Bagman had instructed them on what they were to do for the first task of the triwizard tournament. She had glanced around to survey the other champions' faces, and they all seemed to be very calm and relaxed. Especially that Harry Potter boy. That line that Cho said to her rang throughout her head, _"He's a cheater, I just know it."_ It was funny, but most likely true. He was not even in the least surprised when he pulled out the Hungarian Horntail.

The Welsh Green was walking around on her hand, fire spewing out its nose and landing on her hand, producing miniature stings of pain. A number two was wrapped around its neck like a piece of jewelry.

_I'm going to go on any minute now._

This first task, retrieving the golden egg from the dragon, seemed quite easy to her. Madame Maxime had told her about it ahead of time, so she had plenty of preparation work already arranged. She was going to use a heat charm on the dragon. Aim for the eyes too, since those were its weakest points on its body.

"Nothing I can't handle."

She stared at the moving miniature of the Welsh Green and tossed it on the ground before stomping on it with her foot. Smoothing out the few wrinkles in her skirt, she moved towards the entrance to the tent as a deafening roar from the crowd signaled the end of Cedric's run. Bagman's voice could be heard outside.

"One down, three to go. Miss Delacour, if you please!

_Keep a calm composure, you're in control, you know what to do._ That's what she kept telling herself. However, as she walked out with her head held high, she could feel her body betraying her. Knees shaking and hands clutching the wand with a vice-like grip, she could feel the fear pulsing through her body like some kind of insane drug.

She pushed open the curtain and entered into the bright sunlight. Walking past a row of trees on each side, she passed through a gap in the enclosure fence. What met her as she emerged was a sea of faces.

All around her, hundreds, if not thousands, of faces were all staring at her as she made her way to the field. Stadium seating for all to see had been magically placed on the outer ring of the enclosure, and from the looks of it, every space was full.

On the other end was the Welsh Green.

Just as its name suggests, the skin that covered the dragon was a green, mossy-like color, but the scales were smooth. It almost would have looked pleasant, had it not been for the fact that it had torrents of fire expelling from its viciously fanged mouth. About fifty feet in height, the towering monstrosity looked menacing with its bloody, cat-like eyes staring straight at her.

As she came into clear view, the crowd in the stands went wild.

"There are so many people…!"

She walked closer to the dragon and looked underneath its nesting ground. Multiple eggs were resting in a small, straw-covered area, but a single gold egg caught her attention. It was the object that she was to retrieve.

A whistle sounded somewhere off in the far distance, she couldn't tell. As she ran quickly up to the ferocious dragon, she pointed her wand straight at the eyes and attempted to cast the spell.

"_Relashio!"_ Hot white sparks flew from the tip of her wand as a stream of searing heat shot directly at its eyes.

But she missed.

"Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" Bagman's voice magnified by the sonorous charm echoed through the grand stadium. She could have used the incendio spell, but for some reason she had not, and the decision would cost her.

Her hand had been shaking without her knowledge and it hit above the dragon's eyes. Enraged at being hit by immense heat, the dragon rose on its two hind legs, wings outstretched. It seemed to enlarge itself just by standing up to an impossible height. Then, with all its tremendous might, its left clawed hand came crashing down upon her.

As she saw the colossal shadow envelope her small figure, all sound seemed to shut out of her senses. She couldn't hear anything, and at that moment, all she could was feel. An intense pain, almost crushing, had impacted directly in her chest, knocking the wind out of her. She flew through the air like a pitiful rag doll, landing fifteen feet behind where she was standing. Three large gashes had appeared on her midriff, her clothes in that area shredded to nothingness. Blood was steadily pumping out, but due to the adrenaline, she couldn't care.

Running directly towards the dragon, a faint buzzing, even a humming sound was surrounding and clouding her senses. She realized that was the crowd cheering her on.

"I'm in control."

With a surge of energy, she aimed at the dragon's face once more and decided to try something else. Heat obviously was not the best decision.

She shouting something as loudly as possible, making sure the dragon could hear it through the roar of the crowd and the furious shrieks from the Welsh Green's fanged mouth. Slowly, its shaking body began to calm down as it went back down on all fours. Still keeping her wand trained on the dragon's eyes, she began moving it around in a complicated motion, keeping contact with the beast.

Its eyes began to droop slowly as it was lulled into a sleep-like trance. The swaying head came to a slow stop on its front limbs, eyes closing completely.

She was finally within reach of the eggs.

And then it hit her, in the skirt of all places too.

Fire was eating up the bottom of her delicate silk skirt. Apparently, this certain dragon snored. A rush of fire had emitted from its slit nose and had caught her clothes on fire. A searing wave of pain passed through her legs as she aimed at the menacing heat with her wand and shouted.

"_Extinguish!" _

A small stream of water shot at the flickering red-hot fury as smoke appeared from the contact.

"Curses." The hem of her skirt had flaked off in little pieces of black smoldering ashes. She carefully walked over to the nest and reached down for the golden prize.

More waves of pain.

She was shot back from the golden egg and hit the stadium seating with a sickening thud. The dragon had somehow resisted her sleeping charm just as she was about to grab the prize. Another cut had appeared on her right shoulder, but it was shallow.

"No superficial graze can hinder me!"

She grabbed her wand with her right hand, blood sliding down onto her wand, as ran straight for the monster. Aiming at the eyes again, she performed the same sleeping spell as before and made a mad dash for the egg. The spell had not been as strong as the one she previously performed, but it was all she needed. Forgetting grace and composure, she just ran at top speed and dove at the golden egg.

With the shining object in her possession, she sprang back up and dashed to the sidelines as the whistle blew.

As her adrenaline had worn off, sound started to flood her ears again. The crowd was roaring wildly despite all the injuries she took. She would get marked off multiple points, but she didn't care; she was alive. The entire crowd cheered and cheered, and from Fleur's standpoint, all she saw were smiling faces.

Then she saw Cho.

She paused a moment as she saw the smiling Ravenclaw in the stands. A sheet of black flowing behind her, she was pumping her fist in the air for Fleur's outstanding performance. The smile penetrated deep into her heart, and piece of the ice chipped off.

"What a beautiful smile she has."

Fleur's usually icy cold, blue stare had softened for a fleeting instant before she walked to the center of the enclosure to receive her scores. Madame Maxime had her wand pointed in the sky as a silvery stream shot out from the tip.

8

She laughed. Of course, her headmistress was biased, but she did not mind too much. The score was much more than she deserved.

Crouch was next as a silvery ribbon weaved itself in the air.

6

Bagman pointed his wand in the air and…

7

Next was Karkaroff and…

2

"What?" Fleur stared at the insulting number with her regular flaring, icy, blue eyes. Sure she had not done the best job, and she had many, many, injuries, but it was at least more deserving of points than a two!

"That old hag is such a…biased fool. Surely he'd give that Krum boy a 10, even if he had died! This is ridiculous!"

Her eyes narrowed at the Durmstrang headmaster as she stormed off the field. She had been in a triumphant mood, knowing that she had survived the ordeal with the dragon, but he had just ruined it completely. Madame Pomfrey came wobbling up to her with medical equipment. She grabbed Fleur's uninjured arm.

"Come on dear, I need to fix those nasty wounds of yours."

Fleur plucked her hand off of her arm.

"I do not need your help to heal myself! Go away." She spat as she stalked off to the castle grounds, still angry at Karkaroff's ridiculous score.

Looking offended, Madame Pomfrey didn't even try a second time to persuade the Beauxbaton girl to come to the hospital wing. She hobbled off to tend to Cedric instead, shaking her head at the stubborn blonde.

Getting through the school grounds was a breeze, since all the students were still on the field thus making the hallways very deserted an empty. She arrived at the Ravenclaw tower with much ease, and she jumped up the stairs and into the comfort of her dormitory. Throwing herself onto the cushiony satin bed, she buried her face into the sheets face down.

No tears. She would not degrade herself that much, no matter how hurt she felt inside. It was humiliating to get such a low score, and in front of guests. Her Beauxbaton school was relying on her to be the best champion, and then she goes off and gets a two.

She flipped over on her back with much effort and groaned in excruciating pain. The cuts she had received were still sending waves of fresh pain like electrical currents. Grabbing for her wand, she aimed it at herself, and hoped she knew how to heal the wounds. She knew she had told the nurse lady that she could heal herself, but now that she was aiming a wand at herself, she began to doubt it. Anything could happen if she said the wrong thing, and aiming a wand at oneself is not exactly safe either.

At that instant, Cho burst through the door, her hair a mess and sweat dripping down her face. She screamed, ran, and tackled Fleur on the bed all in a split second.

"DON'T KILL YOURSELF! IT'S NOT WORTH IT!"

Suddenly very confused at what was going on, Fleur pushed the crazed girl off of her and grimaced in more pain as the wounds continued to ache.

"What on earth do you think you are doing?" Fleur was sitting on the far end of the bed scowling at the seemingly insane person.

Cho's face was flushed from both the running, and embarrassment. She sat upright on the bed and smoothed out her hair in her best attempt to appear composed. Laughing nervously she stared at a suddenly very interesting pillow on the ground.

"Um…after the first task…you walked away quickly and it looked like you were going to cry-"

Fleur interjected fiercely, "I most certainly do not cry!" Cho paid no attention, but merely stared at the pillow.

"-so when you came here, I thought you might have been sad. When I saw you holding the wand to your chest, I thought you were…going to…um…maybe…kill yourself? But that was a really, really, stupid thing of me to think. I tend to jump to rather irrational conclusions relatively quickly. So…what were you doing?"

Staring at Cho's apologetic face, Fleur's gaze hardened, her blue eyes their usual ice cold blue, "Hmph, you certainly are stupid! Well, if you must know, I was trying to heal myself. I do not need any assistance, so you need not worry."

Returning the angry frown, Cho pursed her lips, "Well sorry for worrying about you! I thought you died from all those cuts that dragon gave you…"

Fleur crossed her arms, but then unfolded them again to reach for her wand. "Stupid flaming beast, it ripped my clothes! It is the best of silk…" She pointed the wand again at her chest where the three claws had ripped through her torso and muttered something. Immediately grimacing in pain, Cho thought something was going wrong, but then watched as invisible 'stitches' sewed up the gashes all over Fleur's torn body.

"Now if only I could do my clothes…" she uttered as she shook her head and stood up.

She walked over to her trunk when Cho pulled out her wand.

"_Reparo."_

Fleur watched her clothes mend themselves, and she suddenly felt even more humiliated as she realized that she forgot the most basic of spells. The repairing charm, of course, but it had completely slipped her mind.

Her head whipped around sharply, "I said I don't need assistance!" She spat the words from her mouth a bit harsher then she had intended to, but she was annoyed at the girl.

After seeing the look on Cho's destroyed face however, she suddenly felt a wave of guilt. Her deep brown eyes were sparkling, but her eyebrows were curved upward into a look of regret.

"I'm sorry, I just thought that…you wanted them fixed so I…repaired them for you," stuttered Cho, who felt abruptly intruding.

Fleur stomped off to the door and opened it brusquely before she paused. She slowly turned her head just so that one, icy, distant eye could make eye contact before she spoke with harsh words.

"You annoy me greatly."

Cho's face seemed to sink within itself at what she had just said.

The ice melted at the expression as the cold eye turned soft blue before she turned her head back around.

"But thank you very much for mending my robes."

She closed the door behind her swiftly. Cho did not see the single drop of clear liquid hit the floor.


	4. Chapter 4

**(note)**Just a side-note, I do mix in some real quotes word for word from the book. I don't own those lines, J.K. Rowling does. She probably doesn't read fanfiction (at least I don't think she does) but DON'T SUE! TT

Eyes of Blue

Chapter 4

"Who are you going with?"

That was the single most overused question of the week. After the exciting events of the first task, the news of a dance began to spread. It was officially announced by teachers and staff that there was to be a formal ballroom dance for everyone fourth year and up. All the students began to suddenly stalk one another as they waited for the perfect chance to ask them to the Yule Ball.

Cho and Fleur were suddenly both magnets to the opposite sex. Since they were usually found not too far from each other, almost the entire male population had followed the pair from a distance, not wanting to get too close.

Whether it was during break, eating lunch, or walking to the class History of Magic, it seemed like Harry had been following Cho. She would turn down a hallway and out of the corner of her eye, she could see the dark-haired boy anxiously hiding behind a book, or a statue. She knew he wanted to ask her.

However he would be rejected because one Friday, when she was studying quietly in the library, a certain Hufflepuff had taken a seat next to her. Many of the girls nearby had started to whisper enviously to each other as Cedric Diggory began to talk to her. His voice was dripping with apprehension as he began to stutter out his invitation for her to go to the dance.

"Er… Cho, I don't suppose…you know, since the Yule Ball is so close…and all the champions need partners…I was wondering…if…you'd like to go with…me? I mean, that is, if you don't already have a person to go with…since you know, you're one of the most prettiest girls in the school…and popular…and…and…"

She closed the book she was reading and silently thought about the offer in her mind.

Cedric was a nice guy, but she didn't know if she liked him or not. Not that it really matters, it's not like he's asking her out or anything. But…the thought of going with him didn't exactly feel right.

_I feel like I want to go with someone else, but I don't know who or why... _

Shrugging away that thought, she nodded. Cedric's face brightened up considerably as she smiled faintly.

"I wouldn't mind going with you. Besides, you had a wonderful performance last task. I really enjoyed it."

He grinned boyishly and stood up, making his way to the door and waving. "Thanks. I'll see you…Christmas. Right? Bye."

He walked out of the library with a happy grin sitting on his nicely proportionate face. Cho watched him leave but was soon attacked by nearly every girl in the library. They had apparently overheard the whole conversation, and even though they appeared as if they were reading, they really weren't.

Padma Patil put a hand on her shoulder excitedly, "Oh, did he ask you to go with him to the Yule ball? I bet he did, ohhh you're so fortunate. I seem to be unlucky when it comes to all things guy-related. But Cedric… wow."

The huddle of girls surrounding her began to whisper and giggle as they talked about how cute a couple they were.

Someone sighed heavily behind them.

Leaning up against a nearby wall with her arms folded across her chest, Fleur was dressed in her normal Beauxbaton robes and was eyeing Cho with an uninterested smirk. She looked at her fingernails casually and began to talk without looking anyone in the eyes.

"Why are you all so obsessed with such a guy? There are so many more better catches out there, I wonder why you all just focus on this one."

The group surrounding Cho immediately frowned at the blonde-haired girl and began to shoot comments back at her.

"You just resent the fact that he didn't ask you."

Fleur laughed at them mockingly, "Me, envious of Cho? Over what? That boy isn't even my type. Besides, if I wanted any guy I could go out anytime and snatch him up. Nearly every person here is willing to give into my impeccable charm. It's just pathetic that Cho doesn't get to go to the ball with someone better for her. That boy…Cedric, doesn't deserve one such as her."

Cho looked at Fleur as she spoke and although her words were harsh, her deep blue eyes seemed sad, but a flicker of…jealousy seemed to flash across her features. Jealous of Cho, or…Cedric… she couldn't tell.

As Fleur finished her sentence, the people surrounding Cho got fed up with her presence and left the library still whispering about Cedric. Walking up and taking a seat beside her on the desk, Fleur sat up straight and stared at the book on the table with distaste. She shook her head.

"History of Magic is a rather drab class. Arithmancy is much more appealing."

Laughing softly, Cho looked at Fleur seriously, "So has anyone asked you to the dance yet?"

Glaring at the table as if it were her mortal enemy, thoughts and memories of all the guys who had asked her out flashed before Fleur's eyes. Of course nearly the entire school had asked her to the dance, but none of them fascinated her enough. They were all so tasteless and dull, with no personality whatsoever. All they seemed interested in was…well, _her._ The way they stared at her and nearly choke as she would speak.

"Many men have asked me to the dance, but they do not suit my preference. I'd rather it if I could just go alone, but according to the cursed rules, I need a partner. That Weasley boy had the audacity to come up to me and ask. I do not even know who he is and he thinks he can just walk up to me when I am in the middle of a conversation with Cedric. The nerve! I did not even bother to laugh insultingly at him. But that one boy though, Roger Davies, he seems…acceptable…"

_ Oh, that's why she looked green. She had probably asked Cedric earlier and he turned her down. So that explains it… _

Cho grinned almost sadly at the flustered girl, "It must be your veela charm you're working on them. It's not completely your fault that you're a magnet for all sorts of people."

Scowling back at Cho, Fleur grit her teeth, "Even… a girl asked me! It was purely unbelievable! As if I were interested in her, that is rich… It's almost as if this stupid veela blood is more a nuisance than a blessing. It just adds to my irresistibility. And stop laughing at me! It is most definitely not a funny subject, so wipe that grin off your face."

Throughout Fleur's entire speech, Cho had to suppress rising laughter in the pit of her stomach. But at the mention of even a girl asking Fleur to the dance, the giggles burst out of her.

"It seems your charm goes beyond that of guys. Good job Queen of All Things Desirable."

Fleur punched her arm half-jokingly and stood up smirking playfully, "Well, any girl is better than that feminine Cedric. Have you seen the way that poor boy dresses? It's as if he were raised with multiple sisters and inherited their clothes."

They both chuckled heartily and as Fleur made her way to the Library's exit, Cho grabbed her hand. The platinum blonde jumped in surprise but turned around with a neutral expression. Her eyebrow quirked up as she stared at their grasping hands peculiarly.

"Now don't tell me even the mighty Cho has fallen for my uncontrollably sexy aura?"

Blushing and quickly dropping hands, Cho brushed aside stray black hair nervously and grinned, "Don't even count on it. As much as I know you'd love to have the most popular girl in school smother you, I think that you're out of luck. What I meant to say was I'll see you at the Yule ball. I need to get to my Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

Both girls laughed and walked out of the library in separate directions.

As she walked down the corridors, Cho's thoughts kept getting distracted. Fleur always acted so strangely, it was hard to tell how she felt about stuff. Her face would certainly never betray any feelings; she always kept it neutral. But the things she said and the way she said them, she couldn't tell whether Fleur despised or liked her. She laughed, she yelled, she's happy, she's angry.

"A flippin' mystery if you ask me."

She entered the classroom and took a seat. A bunch of her acquaintances sat near her as the class started. All they kept talking about was how Cedric had asked her to the Yule Ball. It seemed news traveled very fast at Hogwarts. The only thing that bothered her was their need to giggle incessantly.

She especially wished they would stop their snickering as soon as the class ended and Harry had ambushed her outside her classroom. It sounded like a horde of snakes were around her with all of their hissing and giggling.

"Er – Cho? Could I have a word with you?" he asked timidly.

She nodded and replied, "Okay." Before going off with him to a place out of earshot.

He stared at her awkwardly and kept shuffling his feet. He was nervous, and Cho knew why.

"Er…wangoballwime?"

…

_ What the heck did he just say? _

"Sorry?" said Cho.

"D'you – d'you want to go to the ball with me?" said Harry. His face had turned so deep crimson that it looked like he was going to burst open from pressure. Cho guessed that she too had turned a slight shade lighter because she felt heat rise to her face.

"Oh Harry, I'm really sorry, I've already said I'll go with someone else."

Her words crushed harder than a ten-ton weight. His face seemed to turn off like a broken light bulb as what little radiance he had got sucked clean out of his gawky smile. He turned back around, his shoulders slumped as low as possible, and began walking away.

She started walking back to her common room.

_ Don't ask it Harry, don't ask it… _

"Who're you going with?"

Cho grimaced and paused, slowly turning around. Hearing the name would obliterate what little dignity was left in him. The only other person to be in the tournament who everyone said deserved the spotlight instead of Harry. She didn't necessarily dislike him, but she didn't want to hurt him. It was too late for that though.

"Oh – Cedric," she said. "Cedric Diggory."

That did it. His whole heart seemed to explode into tiny, itty-bitty pieces as he dragged his lifeless body back to his own Gryffindor dormitory.

After that, he had avoided all contact with her. Not that it mattered much, since the holidays were coming up so soon.

Christmas had snuck up on everyone rather quickly as a winter blanket of white covered everything about four inches deep. Everyone had woken up to the wonderful smell of freshly baked stews and puddings. Cho stared at the foot of her bed and looked at all of the boxes of candies.

Fleur's laughter rang clear through the crisp morning air as she too stared at the mound of chocolates near the foot of her bed.

"It seems we are equally popular. I hope you like chocolate, because I will not eat mine. Must keep my figure up, yes indeed."

She hopped out of the bed and ran her fingers through her seemingly perfect hair as she scratched the nape of her neck. Cho marveled at her gleaming and untangled hair. Even bed-head did not affect the Beauxbaton goddess. The pair had gone down to eat some breakfast since that was the day of the Yule Ball.

"It is too heavy, all this Hogwarts food," Fleur lifted up her spoon and let the thick contents dribble down, "I will not fit into my dress robes! There was a reason why I didn't eat those chocolates, but this might as well be a substitute for all of it."

Cho laughed as she took a sip of the rich stew. It did taste really good, and on such a cold morning, the steaming hot soup tasted delicious.

"It's better to eat than starve yourself. Besides, I don't think it's possible for you to gain weight. You're so slim."

Fleur took another sip and smiled, "I guess you are right, as always. It is better to eat than look like an emaciated ghost. A few rich foods here and there won't hurt…"

She took more sips before shaking her spoon at Cho, "But if I suddenly burst into a gigantic ugly ball then I shall forever hate you! I cannot go to the ball looking like a kid's toy." They laughed.

After the quite uneventful breakfast, they had decided to spend most of their time in the Ravenclaw common room. Nothing exciting was going on really. Padma was sitting in the comfiest armchair reading a thick book, Cho was staring out the window and watching kids enjoy themselves throwing snowballs at each other, and Fleur…well, she was complaining again, but not about food.

"It has gotten rather cold all of a sudden! This Hogwarts place, does it not have a heater at all? So uncomfortable. I wish I was back at Beauxbaton again. Oh, the halls it has, and all of the luxurious…"

Everyone had learned to tune out her ramblings about the medieval feel of Hogwarts. She had eventually stopped talking as she decided to go down to eat more food for lunch. Turkeys were being served, and many Christmas puddings were accompanying them. Cho heard Fleur mumbling more about how she 'wouldn't fit into her dress robes' again.

Outside in the fluffy blanket of white, students were abandoning their snowmen and snowballs and began to flood back into the school to get ready for the night's festivities. It was nearly seven o'clock as all the girls ran back to their dormitories to change into their fancy dress robes.

Fleur was pulling out her satiny robes from the trunk and began to smooth them out as she spread them across the bed. Cho had also pulled out her own white dress robe.

Even though Fleur had her back to her, Cho couldn't help but stare at her as she changed. She knew it was an invasion of privacy, but her eyes kept wandering and she couldn't help it.

_ It's the uncontrollably sexy aura. Damn those veelas. _

She chuckled to herself silently as Fleur pulled up the dress and folded over the silvery-gray straps. The elegant robes glimmered in the light as she swept her platinum hair behind her shoulder. She started to turn back around, so Cho ripped her gaze from her dorm partner.

Her face burned red as she changed as quickly as possible because she felt a pair of cool blue eyes raking her body up and down. She could feel her eyes tracing her curves all over her body and…

Cho shook her head furiously as she fastened the last strap. Turning back around, she smiled warmly and suddenly her jaw dropped.

Fleur was stunning.

Veela or not, she still had the effect of drawing her in. Walking up to her slowly, Cho paused a few feet away from the taller blonde with a glazed look in her eye.

Smiling a perfectly white grin, Fleur ran her finger along Cho's cheek before placing a quick kiss on the spot as she started walking towards the door.

"We must hurry or we shall disappoint our partners."

Fleur is an enigma. Sexy aura and all.

Once again shaking her head to get her mind and thoughts cool and collected again, Cho stared in the mirror and fixed her hair up a bit, and then put an ornamental decoration through her hair. It was a small, blue, crystal flower that gleamed multiple shades of blue when twirled in the light.

Outside of the Ravenclaw entrance, Roger Davies, Cedric, and Fleur were waiting. As she stepped out of the hole and took Cedric's offered arm, Cho began to feel nervous. She had forgotten that he was one of the champions and that she had to open the dance along with the other couples.

It was nearly eight o'clock and the entrance hall was packed to the brim with waiting students. The doors to the Great Hall were to open very soon, but the oak doors behind them opened up first.

Durmstrang students filed in with Krum leading them and a happy Hermione accompanying him.

"Champions over here, please!" Professor McGonagall's voice rang over the boisterous chatting as the special select couples wandered over to her. They lined up by the door as the other students were allowed entry to the Great Hall. Fleur and Roger had gone to the front of the line and were first to enter. It almost seemed like he was drooling at his good fortune for having Fleur as a partner, but her face seemed rather annoyed.

Cedric flashed Cho a friendly smile as the pair walked into the hall following Fleur and Roger. A sea of students and hundreds upon hundreds of eyes followed them as they made their way to a large round table at the top of the Hall next to the judges. Everybody broke out clapping until everyone was seated.

It was a perfect place for the Yule Ball to be held. Stars glittered the dark night ceiling as sparkling silver frost covered the walls. Hundreds and hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy criss-crossed around the frosted walls. All around the champions, small tables sporting about twelve people and little lanterns had replaced the regular house tables.

Everyone looked at the menu in front of them and then stared at their plates as they said the name of what they wished to eat.

"Pork Chops!"

"Roast Chicken."

"Stew."

Magically, the golden plates filled up with the said foods and everyone went off to eating and talking.

Cho was deep in conversation with Cedric about Quidditch and how they missed it so far this year.

She nodded in agreement, "Yes, I completely agree. I know the Triwizard Cup is very important, but I just wish that they had practice games or something like that. Any sort of Quidditch would be nice. Practice or not, I miss it very much."

He took a bite of steak and bacon, nodding his head, "Yeah. I miss catching that little golden snitch, but this Triwizard Tournament is very exciting. Dangerous, fun, and it lets me do some spells we're not supposed to use regularly. It's almost sad that you didn't get a chance to be in it."

Cho thought back about when Fleur made her enter her name into the goblet, but then she snapped back to the present as she heard the icy voice complaining about the decorations.

"This is nothing, at the Palace of Beauxbatons, we have ice sculptures all around the dining chamber at Christmas. They do not melt, of course… they are like huge statues of diamond, glittering around the place. And the food is simply superb. And we have choirs of wood nymphs, who serenade us as we eat. We have none of this ugly armor in the halls, and if a poltergeist ever entered into Beauxbatons, he would be expelled like _that._"

She heard a slap on the table and her dinner glass shook, spilling a little sparkling apple cider contents onto the table. Cho turned her head slightly and smiled in amusement. Apparently, Roger was just imitating her absentmindedly. He was much more interested in just…well, drooling and staring. Half the time his fork missed his mouth, resulting in steak juice on each sides of his mouth.

Hermione was beside her trying to teach Krum how to say her name. It was quite humorous until she gave up and just let him call her 'Herm-own-ninny.'

After a long while of eating and conversing, hungry students had demolished the food so Dumbledore rose up from his seat. Everyone followed suit as he tapped his wand and all of the tables flew against the wall. A stage magically appeared before their eyes and the Weird Sisters walked up on stage picking up their instruments.

A mournful tune was struck up as the champions, accompanied by their partners, walked to the center floor.

Hesitantly, Cedric put his hand on Cho's hip and grasped her other with his. They waltzed around slowly to the melodic tune.

He seemed like he would be the perfect guy for anyone. Being one of the few boys in school who had a flawless physique, picturesque smile, and the most endearing personality, Cho wondered why she didn't like him. Unlike all of his fangirls, she wasn't included.

_ Why don't I like him…? It seems like I should, but I oddly don't, it's strange… _

Eventually other students began to flood the floor as they waltzed around with their ballroom dance partners. Suddenly aware that Fleur's complaining voice was nowhere to be heard, Cho looked around in the crowd for a flash of platinum, but saw none.

"That's peculiar…" she mumbled.

"What is?" Cedric was looking down at her as she realized she just said that out loud. She shook her head and said nothing. After dancing through a few more songs, Fleur still remained unseen.

"Mind if I sit this one out? I think I want to go get some fresh air or something…"

Cedric looked at her and grinned, "Sure, go ahead. Mind if I go talk to a few Beauxbaton girls…? Seeing as how this _is _supposed to be a ball to unite the students and all…you know…"

She smiled, but as she walked towards the glowing garden outside, it seemed more like Cedric was also looking for someone else.

As she exited into the cool crisp air of the night, she stopped to look at the lit-up rosebushes. It was utterly breathtaking, but she was alone, and it seemed like not being with someone spoiled the moment. She continued on.

_ Oh, why am I looking for Fleur right now? I should be enjoying my time with Cedric. She's not nice to me, well, not always anyways, and she just complains all the time. Why do I worry so much? Not like anything happened to her. She's probably off complaining about…I don't know, the lights in the bushes being too bright or something ridiculous like that- _

Just as she thought of Fleur in a rosebush complaining about the fairy lights, she heard her voice over in the corner. Her voice seemed heavy, out of breath even.

"These…bushes…are so…bright."

Cho smirked. Of course, leave it to Fleur to complain about beautifully lit rosebushes. She walked over to the increasingly loud voice.

"Don't…don't…" continued Fleur in a rising tone.

Too late.

"Hey Fleur, I can't believe even you can find something to say about the…rosebushes?"

Bad time.

Very bad time.

Pressed against the wall with Roger pressed up against her, Fleur stared open-wide in embarrassment and fear as Cho stopped dead in her tracks. The Quidditch captain and chaser for the Ravenclaw team seemed to be nearly crushing the delicate Fleur with his weight as he attempted to kiss her even deeper to satisfy his primal urges.

Shoving his face to the side, she reached out to Cho, "No! It's not what it looks like!"

For some reason, the fact that Roger had been completely making out with her seemed like something very hard to deny. How could it not look like what has happening? His lips were on hers, and that's all to it. This reality also seemed to hurt Cho, much deeper than she thought it would. An infuriated voice bellowed within the confines of her mind.

_ What are you so mad about! You should have expected this, so…why does it hurt so much! Slap her, hit him, do something, just… _

She didn't know what to do, but as little tears rolled down her cheeks, she just gave Fleur a look of utter despair and disappointment before running away.


	5. Chapter 5

Eyes of Blue

Chapter 5

Gone.

That was what she was to her, she could just feel it. Ever since that incident that happened at the Yule Ball, Cho had not spoken to her at all. The blanket of silence that descended upon their dormitory every night had destroyed her mind from the inside out.

Fleur twisted and squirmed in her bed with unrest as she attempted to calm her screaming nerves. Ever since she had come to this dreadful school, the only thing she had taken a liking to was that girl. The beautiful Asian had her mesmerized. She had no veela blood, yet she gave off this atmosphere that demanded constant attention and admiration. Fascinating in every way, it was impossible not to be enthralled by her.

The kiss with Roger…was probably the most horrid thing that had ever had the chance to defile her lips. He had drank probably one too many alcoholic drinks, how he got a hold of them, she didn't know, but she was sure that there was a stinging smell to his heavy breath.

It was an accident. She didn't want it to happen. In fact, she never even wanted to go with him in the first place. Cho was her first person, then Cedric since he was closest to Cho, then whoever else had asked after that.

It was a disaster. Cho had stumbled in at the most inopportune moment. Roger had forcefully pushed her against the wall, and tried to smother her against her will. In fact, if the black-haired Ravenclaw had not shown up at that time…no, she didn't want to think about what could have happened.

It was her worst nightmare. Ever since that night, they had not spoken. The last thing she wanted was for them to be separated, but that's what she had inadvertently done, or rather, it was what Roger had done.

Now, the desolate nights haunted her, they plagued her like a vile disease that wouldn't go away. The silence was deafening, as cliché as that saying goes, but it was true. Without any type of conversation going on, Fleur's mind was just utterly imploding within itself. She had probably ruined their friendship, but then again, there was always that other part of her mind that whispered back to her.

Why did the kiss hurt Cho so much? She seemed to like Cedric so much, but what Fleur couldn't understand was, why did the girl act so upset?

All of this was just so… complicated.

But it had to wait.

The Second Task had arrived.

Fleur was standing near the water's edge watching the wind and the giant squid stir up ripples in the nearly placid lake. She was tapping her foot anxiously in the mud as everyone was waiting patiently for Harry to arrive. Of course he was late, which made her angry, but what's worse was when he arrived, he splattered her robes with the sludge from the ground.

"Where have you been? The task's about to start!" Percy Weasley gave him an earful as all of the champions lined up near Fleur in intervals of ten feet between. Bagman whispered something to Harry, but it was inaudible to anyone else, then he cast the Sonorous charm on his voice.

"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One…two… three!"

All four champions eyed the water mysteriously, as if it held some secrets within its depths, but then after a few seconds of no action, all four burst out into sudden movement.

Krum thrust his wand in front of his face and uttered a transfiguration charm, which turned out quite badly. His head had twisted into a disheveled shark head with jagged teeth pointing out at every direction but ahead of him. Cedric cast the bubble-head charm and around his head appeared the bubble. They both dove into the water at once causing two large but separate splashes.

Fleur stared at Harry with wary eyes. He was standing there looking as if he was transfixed by something, but his hand was fiddling in his pocket. Pulling out a mass of what looked like moldy spaghetti, he popped it in his mouth and began chewing furiously as he discarded his clothes.

Casting the bubble-head charm on herself, Fleur jumped into the water nimbly without so much as a splash or noise.

The jagged water was as icy as her stare as she swam deeper and deeper into the dark depths. Penetrating her robes like frozen daggers, the unmerciful fluid pummeled her skin as she kept swimming down. Silver fishes were darting back and forth before her eyes as she kept looking left and right for the place which held the hostages.

As she went further down into the deepening abyss, those lines from the egg kept buzzing in her mind.

We've taken what you'll sorely miss,

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour – the prospect's black,

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.

The only thing that stood in her mind as what she might sorely miss was the one thing she couldn't live without.

Gabrielle.

Her beloved sister meant the world to her, and losing her would mean losing her soul. Family was all she had, and so she couldn't afford lose that.

Kicking furiously in order to propel herself forward faster, Fleur could make out a large rocky den with merpeople painted along the walls chasing a giant squid. A haunting voice blared through the chilled silence of the lake.

"An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

Your time's half gone, so tarry not

Lest what you seek stays here to rot."

Distracted by the mersong, Fleur let her guard down. With the strength of a constrictor, a grindylow with long scaly fingers grabbed hold of her leg. It bared pointed fangs as it jabbed her leg with the horn that rested atop its small head. Although the horn itself was no more than five inches, it was not smooth. It had serrated edges as it burst through the skin on her leg. A silent scream emitted from her mouth as she kicked the grindylow forcefully with her other free foot. Red was seeping and dissipating into the omnipresent water.

As she turned back around, four more grindylows with crooked yellow grins and extended fingers greeted her. She struggled to reach for her wand in her pocket as they lashed out at her face and arms, causing both skin and robes to tear under the claws. The lake's water stung even more as more lacerations were made with each slash.

Ignoring the searing pain that was surging throughout her whole body, Fleur managed to yank the wand out from her pocket as she shot relashio spells out left and right. Hot jets of steaming water shot out in all directions, causing all of the grindylows to scatter like enraged hornets. One managed to bite her arm as she swam away amidst the confused grindylows.

Its fangs sank into her skin as it held on as she sped towards the merpeople's village. Blood was escaping from each cut and gash as she finally spotted something that appeared to be the place.

A large, enormous statue of a merperson made from a boulder was resting on the bottom. A chorus of merpeople was singing out the song as Fleur drew closer. On the statue's tail, two hostages were remaining, meaning two champions had already come and gone.

Fleur scowled as she ripped the clinging grindylow from her arm, and also because of who was waiting at the tail. Harry Potter was cutting free the bindings from the other hostage who did not belong to him. He had already rescued his incompetent friend…Ron Weasley was it? The brazen boy who had the gall to ask her to the Yule Ball. It was her hostage that he was trying to free, so she swam up from behind and smacked him hard on the shoulders.

"Do not touch my sister!" she mouthed as he rubbed the place where she hit. He gave her a weird look, and she repeated herself. He continued to look at her strangely until Fleur turned to grab her hostage.

A mess of black silk-looking hair was swaying around the person's face as her head leaned to one side unconscious.

_This must be a mistake._

She stared hard into the face of Cho Chang as she cut the rest of her bindings and grabbing her firmly. Where was her sister? Why was this girl her hostage, and not her beloved sibling? Harry was still giving her a dumb look as he grabbed Ron with his arm. Doing something completely contrary to her normal standards, Fleur stuck out her tongue at him and smirked. Cho was his crush after all, so he must have been jealous to see her being the most treasured person of someone else.

Grinning with momentary contentment, Fleur wrapped her right arm around Cho's slender waist as she madly swam to the surface. It still made no sense as to why this Ravenclaw was her hostage…

The moon and stars began to get increasingly clearer as they both approached the surface. Harry was not too far behind them, but they breached after them.

Both Fleur and Cho's heads popped up out of the water. The crowd erupted into a rowdy applause as both champions, Harry and Fleur, emerged with their hostages. Sure, they were well out of the time range, but they had come back nonetheless.

Swimming back to shore, Cho began to reawaken. She coughed as water spurted out of her mouth with each hack. Suddenly aware of where she was, she became surprised again to see who was holding her.

"Fleur? What are you doing? Why are _you_ my champion?" she choked out the words harshly as she spit up more water. Her eyes were not yet fully open, as they rolled around in their sockets for a few moments. For a second, it seemed like she was almost going to struggle out of her grasp, but due to exhaustion, and the cold, she decided to just wait to be carried back to shore.

She apparently was still mad about the Yule Ball.

Struggling to stay above water as she carried the weight of the soaked Cho, Fleur just glared at her, "Shut up. I am in no mood to talk with you right now, let alone argue. I do not know why you are my hostage, so just… stop talking, please."

Cho's mouth was open, mostly because she was ready to talk back, but also because of the sheer look of fatigue that overwhelmed Fleur's eyes. She shut it and complied.

Finally, after about a minute of sink and float struggle swimming, the pair eventually reached the muddy shores that touched the lake. Madame Pomfrey came rushing up to them both. Harry and Ron couldn't help themselves from staring at them, even under the odd circumstances, because it was a sight to see, almost hilarious.

The two most popular girls in school, dripping wet, tired, and looking utterly miserable. And now that they had regained some strength from the warming potion that they had been given, they were willingly ready to start another fight.

"Where is my sister? You couldn't have been what I would 'sorely miss,' that's just impossible. How could I miss someone like you!" Fleur pointed angrily at Cho as she kept swatting at Madame Pomfrey who was trying to get near the champion for medical inspection.

"How should I know where your sister is? And it's your problem that I was chosen as the thing you'd miss most, not mine! So get off it!" she rung out her robes and watched in disgust as lake water came rushing down. Words were suddenly bandied back and forth as both girls had reverted back to the childhood way of hurting someone; insults.

Fleur took a step forward, her icy blue eyes suddenly on fire, "Brat!"

Cho matched her step and with an equally intense gaze, "Fragile!"

"Ungrateful!"

"Spoiled!"

"Callous!"

"Superficial!"

Finally fed up with the immature word brawl, Fleur vigorously brushed stray wet strands of blonde locks out of her face, glowering all the while.

"I admit, I may be pampered quite a lot, but that does not give you the reason to call me superficial! As if! You hardly know me."

Cho pressed her pointed finger into Fleur's chest crushingly as she narrowed her eyes, "What do I need to know about you anyways? Just from the way you act I can get a sense of how you really are."

"Oh, how DARE you! You think you can just…ohhh, you. What gives you the idea that you can speak to me with such disrespect?"

Leaning in closer, Cho wiped the last of the leftover lake water from her face, glaring as much animosity towards the blonde as she could, "Because, I know you. The way you go about, the way you talk, I can just tell! You're shallow, obsessed about your stupid looks, and the way you use your veela blood to your advantage makes you nothing but a lowdown whore!"

Fleur took a step back, her mouth slightly opened.

The judges, and almost the whole school was watching and listening to the whole fight. They were supposed to give the scores out, but from the looks of things, it didn't seem as if it were a good time to. Even Bagman was standing off to the side hesitantly. Madame Maxime looked absolutely embarrassed by Fleur's behavior.

Cho wanted to laugh at the dumbfounded look on the face of her enemy, knowing that she had won, but the only feeling that swept through her system was that of guilt. Fleur's normally cold blue eyes were completely chipped away. They looked so sad, so vulnerable, so… injured. The multiple walls that she had built around her heart and feelings were torn down and crumbled in an instant.

And then tears slid down her eyes. She couldn't hide them, she didn't even try to hide them. Nothing could even conceal the pain in the depths of her heart. She didn't know why, but those words tore so deep that it struck her core.

Suddenly Cho realized how tired and in pain Fleur must be. She had just gone through a freezing lake, fought grindylows, and pulled up her body from the bottom, how could she be bickering so idiotically like this? So many scratches on her arms and face, too many for her to count… and her robes were torn, those robes she loved so much. Oh, yes, she had made a mistake.

Dead silence.

All eyes were on Fleur as she let the tears sting down her mortified cheeks. In front of all the schools, it was something that could not be easily put off and masked. Everyone tensed as she began to speak unsteadily.

"It is a curse to be a veela. Not that you would know. You're not me, thus you can never truly understand."

She started to walk backwards, slowly at first, and then faster and faster. Keeping her eyes locked with Cho, her defenseless azure eyes betrayed more than she wanted.

"To think I once cared…"

Fleur whisked around and ran to the castle, the sound of crying tainting the tranquil air.


	6. Chapter 6

**(note)** I know it seems like I'm updating too quickly, but I have nothing else to do but write and write… sad life, yes. If you've read any of my other fanfics, then you must know I intended to write a long story, but in the end I just ended up rushing it because I'm very, very impatient. Oh well. Thanks for reading this far and bearing with me.

Eyes of Blue

Chapter 6

How could she possibly be any more ridiculously stupid? The second task had ended many weeks ago, but the whole school was still in an uproar over what had happened between the Beauxbaton champion and her hostage. The only piece of gossip that overshadowed it, was that of Cho's love life.

She had been dating Cedric Diggory.

Ever since he had awkwardly asked her to the Yule Ball, they were seen around school together more often than not. She had drifted away from her blonde roommate, but after what happened after the second task, it was Fleur who had severed the ties with the black-haired Ravenclaw. Fleur apparently had asked Madame Maxime to move her out, and so she was removed and put back into the Beauxbaton carriage for the rest of the stay at Hogwarts.

Once again, Cho was alone.

Sure, she had Cedric, but he was not a Ravenclaw, and he certainly didn't share the room with her. The opposing bed in the dormitory was neatly made and totally empty, but not nearly as empty as her heart.

That whole scene kept replaying in her mind. The despondent look in Fleur's eyes had crushed her for some reason. It had practically ripped a void in her soul that not even Cedric could fill. In fact, the moments that she shared with him, were not nearly as exciting as the arguments and jokes that she shared with the French girl. Although it does sound odd that she enjoyed the quarrels they had, Cho realized that she was really having fun deep down inside.

And now it was all destroyed. It had exploded into a million shattered fragments of hopelessness. Fleur was avoiding her. For all Cho knew, the blonde hated her. But then, what she said before she left, seemed to contradict that conclusion.

_ "To think I once cared…" _

What could she possibly have meant by that? That sentence flowed throughout her thoughts for hours on end. Even during class, when the teachers had called her name, she was not listening. Cho couldn't concentrate, she couldn't think straight. All of the things in her mind were just so… jumbled up.

Well, she knew how the beauty of Beauxbaton thought of her, or rather, what she used to think of her, but how did she feel towards Fleur?

At the moment, she was feeling quite an assortment of emotions. Anger, regret, guilt, it was all there. And more than she liked to admit it, she also cared very deeply for the seemingly shallow girl. Ever since she had arrived at Hogwarts, her personality had been very enigmatic. She'd act as if she hated Cho, and then the next moment, she was joking with her. Yes, she did care for Fleur, just like Fleur used to care for her.

Cho often found herself comparing Cedric to Fleur, although it was not a very fair match up. Men and women have such different traits, but if she put aside gender and sexuality, Fleur was much more appealing: Her face was not stubbly with growing hairs, her skin was much fair and less coarse than that of Cedric's, and she had the most perfect curves. Sometimes, she even imagined Fleur in the place of Cedric when they… kissed, but then she had to pull back and shut her eyes tightly to get rid of the hallucination.

Fleur's image never faded away.

Perhaps she was obsessed with the platinum-haired girl, but she couldn't accept it or admit it.

Denial?

What was she denying? Nothing. Well, maybe the fact that she found Fleur to be the most attractive girl she had ever seen. Whether it was the veela heritage or not, the girl was absolutely gorgeous. As Ron had joked once, they don't make them like that at Hogwarts.

But she didn't like her like that. Of course not, she was born and raised in a society that scorned such thinking. Cedric. She was supposed to like Cedric. She just thought that Fleur was nearly perfect, nothing more.

Denial again…?

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE MISS CHANG!"

Cho jumped up out of her seat as Mad-Eye Moody slammed his fist into the desk, knocking her senselessly out of her self-analyzing daydream. His magical eyeball swiveled in its socket as he stared at both her and some other partially dozing fifth years at the same time.

"I know you're all very excited about the last task coming up shortly," he grinned, almost maliciously for some reason, "but you'd better be on the lookout. Must be very cautious, every waking moment of your life. You never know when you'll need these counter curses and spells. Very useful stuff indeed."

He turned back around and picked up his wand. Everybody else seemed to go back to sleep.

As the class ended, everyone rushed out of the class to get away from the crazed man. He seemed overly strange today, but he was right; the last task was only tomorrow. Cho stuffed her books in her bag and walked out of the class as she caught up with a slowly walking Cedric. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey. Feeling nervous?"

His shoulders tensed at her touch, but he shrugged indifferently, "No. Not about the task. Last task to complete, I'm almost relieved…"

She studied his features closely, because his voice did not sound like it was relieved. It still sounded jumpy for some odd reason. Maybe he just needed to have a good time out before the third task, that'd cheer him up.

"Want to do something tonight? You know, to wind down before the task tomorrow. C'mon…" she laughed playfully but he merely stayed silent, as if he were pondering a life or death question.

He didn't look her in the eyes.

"No."

He continued walking on even after she stopped in mid-step. She watched his figure retreat into the hallway of crowded people. His reply was just so curt and so… rude.

"What's wrong with him…?" she muttered to nobody in particular.

She turned to her right and like the oh so graceful and watchful Quidditch player she is, collided hard into another walking person.

Staring up into the ceiling, Cho felt the softest touch on her face. Blonde. Blonde hair. It was everywhere. It feathered all around her vision, and then to match it, a fluttery, but also perturbed voice began to speak.

"Such manners! Watch where you're go-"

Open blue eyes stared straight into hers.

"Fleur…?"

Cho whispered the name as if it were a forbidden subject that should never be touched. The blonde-haired girl jumped back out of surprise. She stood up hastily and brushed off her somewhat dirty blue robes before looking back at Cho once more, who was reaching her hand out.

"Don't go! I need to talk to you…"

Silence.

Abysmal blue eyes began to mist over as they blinked back tears. Her eyebrows quirked up before they twisted back down into a confused, but very livid scowl.

"Why should I talk to you? You already seem to know every bit of me, so you can just answer your own questions!"

With a whirl of her blue robes, she stormed off in a seething rage. The whole corridor seemed to part just for her as she turned another corner and disappeared from sight. Cho was left speechless.

--

A spectral animal with four legs, but an indiscernible shape, was bounding in front of her through the deserted dark corridors of the night.

_ Why in the world am I chasing this thing…? _

Well, it started after dinner.

Cho had eaten in silence. Actually, she barely even ate, she just poked her food much like in the way Fleur had once poked her mysterious potato what seemed like a time so long ago. Nearly everyone who laid eyes on her attempted to cheer her up, even the boy who lived came over and tripped just for her amusement. Or maybe he tripped because of his sheer clumsiness around her, she couldn't tell, but it did not alleviate the heaviness of her spirit.

However, after she had finished 'eating' what was on her plate, something peculiar happened. It was dark in the hallways as she made her way back to the Ravenclaw tower, but an overwhelming sensation flooded her mind.

It was a happy feeling, and a soothing voice went along with it.

_ Follow the light… follow the light… _

The bright, ghostly image with four legs came prancing about in front of her. And so, that was how she ended up chasing the wraithlike figure. Even though it did scare her a bit, she did enjoy the blissful feeling that was surrounding her. And that voice kept speaking in her mind.

_ Follow the light… follow the light… _

She eventually found herself outside of the library. A trance. That's what she had been under, it just had to be. Why else would she walk to such a place after hours without actually knowing it? Well, maybe consciously she was following the fox, but for what reason she did not know. The euphoric feeling and calming voice had vanished leaving her suddenly aware of what she was hearing.   
Voices. In the library. Two of them.   
Cho pressed her back up against the wall and chanced a peek around the corner.   
Impossible.   
It seems that Cho wasn't the only one who had her back pressed against the wall. Cedric… he had his white shirt unbuttoned halfway down, and his face was flushed as he left a trail of kisses down the girl's neck.   
Fleur's neck.   
A delicate moan escaped her perfectly shaped lips as he leaned in closer to her curved form. _ No, this isn't right! Cedric… Fleur…you're both so… goddamn horrible! You're… _

Cho tore her gaze away from the pair in the library and slumped down on to the ground. It had to be some kind of a terrible nightmare. Her boyfriend… the girl she used to admire so much…

Used to? No, she still revered her deeply, she just had a hard time expressing it. Or maybe she was lying to herself, things just seemed way too complicated lately. Everything was so confusing…nothing made sense…all reality as she knew it had come to a crashing halt and flipped upside down.

"Oh that dreadful girl! I knew she would use her veela blood… I must have been right all along, she is just a…a whore."

Cho let out a whimpering cry of vulnerability before she stood up. Rubbing her eyes, she suddenly felt compelled to take one last look at them before running back to her room.

Just one more peek.

Barely looking in, she snuck a brief glance at them. Something caught her eye, but it… didn't seem possible.

Was Fleur looking at her?

A dark blue eye that had the intensity of gravity had connected with hers. Oh yes, Cedric was still kissing her, but her left eye was not closed, rather, it was fixed precisely in her direction.

Cho continued to watch due to an odd fascination.

Fleur closed her eye to blink and when it opened it was trained on Cedric. She pulled away to speak to him, her face still relatively close to his.

"So tell me…Cedric… I thought you were from Hufflepuff, known for their loyalty, why would you tarnish your relationship with that wonderful girl… Cho Chang?"

The black-haired Ravenclaw peeking from the corner held her breath as she awaited his response. He merely smiled dreamily with a glazed look in his eyes as he responded with a flat monotone. Obviously, he had gotten caught in the veela's magic.

"I do like her, Cho, but not because I want to, because I have to," Fleur's gaze faltered momentarily into a look of confusion before she settled back into a look of nonchalance, "I was getting more and more into an uncontrollable relationship with Roger Davies. I deny my liking of him. If I'm with her…then I'm sure that I am… straight."

…

Cho accidentally made a choking noise louder than she wanted to, "What the f-"

"-for why did you come out with me tonight?" Fleur had spoken abruptly. Maybe she heard, maybe she didn't, anyways, Cho held her breath and clamped her mouth shut with her hands.

Cedric gazed at Fleur, "I came here tonight to make my thoughts of Roger Davies get out of my mind. You're the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life…"

He moved in to kiss her again, but she did something unexpected; she slapped him. His face was red as he held it gingerly with his hand. With a shocked look on his face, he took a few steps back and looked at her as if she were crazy.

"What was that for?"

Fleur glared at him, "You filthy pig. How dare you pull Cho into such a fruitless relationship! She deserves much better, and yet you date her because of some ridiculous thing such as liking Roger Davies? You're despicable… and like I said back when you asked her to the Yule Ball…"

She slapped him again, leaving another red welt on his face.

"…you don't deserve one such as her."

Fleur had started walking to the library's exit, so Cho ran as quickly back to her dormitory as possible with the least amount of noise. She threw herself onto the sanctity of her cushiony bed. It was truly the only place she could think straight.

"What happened tonight…?"

It seemed like Fleur knew she was there. Maybe…

No…she shook her head. That was just impossible, almost as much as Fleur standing up for her, but that's exactly what she did. So…maybe she was aware of Cho's presence.

--

They had not spoken since last night. In fact, since this was the day of the third task, they had not even seen each other. Cho assumed that Fleur had been called away due to being a champion, but she wasn't entirely certain. She really wanted to speak to her, and somehow bring up what happened last night, if possible.

She couldn't concentrate however, since there was a wondrous evening feast that day in the great hall. They were serving many more courses than usual, most likely because of the third task, and so Cho had eaten quite a lot, more than usual anyways. The third task had come up much faster than she had anticipated, and before she could leave the Great Hall, the enchanted ceiling changed to a dusky purple as Dumbledore stood up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."

Suddenly, Fleur had gracefully appeared from the other end of the Ravenclaw table. Cho hadn't even noticed the part-veela was even sitting at her own house table. Before she left the Great Hall, she immediately found Cho's eyes and mouthed a silent request.

_Meet me at the Quidditch pitch._

Cho nodded, and then instantaneously sprang out of the table, much to the surprise of her fellow Ravenclaws, and headed directly to the Quidditch pitch.

Fleur was waiting.

Blonde hair was flowing gently in the breeze as she smoothed her robes down as she saw Cho approaching her.

Then they came face to face.

In order to break the awkward silence, Fleur coughed. Her voice was not so clipped as it usually was. Instead, it sounded more open and exposed. Cho was, for once in her short time at Hogwarts, able to read her expression; sorrow. The emotion even danced all across her blue eyes as she began speaking.

"You want to know why I asked you here, correct?"

Cho nodded, but didn't say anything in response. Fleur continued.

"Well, as you know, last night was what I pretty much expected, except for the confession about Roger. You were there, I know, you don't need to say anything. I was the one who summoned you there through the imperio curse."

"You used an unforgivable curse on me?" Cho shouted crossly. Fleur merely nodded.

"I wanted you to know the truth. His…infidelity was unacceptable. I didn't want to see you hurt…"

Oh, this had to be a joke. Cho laughed mockingly, "Didn't want me hurt? So then why did you use your veela heritage in order to entrance him and… and… kiss him while you knew I was watching? That still hurt me!"

"Well you're killing me!"

Cho stopped, and just stared at Fleur. The subtle creases on her forehead had become accentuated by her stress and grief. She didn't know what was wrong with her.

"What do you mean…?" stammered Cho hesitantly, not wanting to upset the Beauxbaton girl anymore than she already ostensibly was.

"Don't you get it? The reason as to why I chose to room with you in the beginning of my stay here, all the times I joked, but also harassed you, why I was so… damn surprised when you found Roger practically attempting to rape me, why I showed you what you needed to know last night, the whole demented reason why I did all the stuff I did!"

Fleur took deep and ragged breaths as she spilled out her thoughts. She advanced upon Cho with what looked like rage and anger in her melancholic blue eyes. But what happened was entirely contradicting those feelings.

"I did it for you."

And her lips crushed Cho's. It was a kiss of desperation and pent up feelings. Soft, yet electrifying, both girls shuddered at the sensation. Normally delicate arms had turned rough as they encircled Cho's thin waist pulling her into a constricting embrace. Not giving any time to breath, Fleur deepened the kiss harshly. She pulled away quickly, breathing hard, and bore her blue eyes deep into Cho's.

"Now do you understand what I have been feeling, and dealing with? It's you, these feelings that I shouldn't be having, and all of these other compounding complications that are making my life living hell. Say something!"

Cho's head was spinning out of control. Too much all too quickly. It happened within the blink of an eye, but what scared her most was that it had felt so normal. It somehow… completed her in a way. That missing part in her soul, it seemed to have been filled like cement pouring into a gaping chasm. She loved it, she practically wanted to drink in the exhilarating feeling, but what came out was all wrong.

"I can't!"

She pushed away from Fleur's warm arms, rejecting the one thing that she truly wanted most, and ran towards the erected stadium seating, leaving the heartbroken girl behind her. As she shoved her way through the crowds, she took a seat at the very top and collapsed onto the bench, her head in her hands and tears pouring freely from her distraught face.

The only thing that flooded her thoughts was Fleur. Her lips, her touch, her smell, all of it blinded her senses as she tried to shake the blonde goddess from her memory. She wouldn't go away, she just _couldn't. _

"I've made a mistake."


	7. Chapter 7

**(note) **Almost done! Is Fleur left or right-handed? I'm not sure…

Eyes of Blue

Chapter 7

"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the champions. "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"

All of the champions nodded silently as they waited for the last task to commence. Nobody spoke, in fact, nobody even wanted to say a 'good luck' to each other before having to go into the large, 20-foot tall maze. Viktor, Cedric, Harry, and Fleur just stood with grim-set faces as they waited for Bagman to announce who would enter first.

The first few stars twinkled in the deep violet sky as Fleur took a deep breath. She was in no mood for any chatting, so the third task of the Triwizard Tournament seemed overwhelming. After the emotional slap in the face from Cho, she suddenly felt as if she couldn't handle the pressure of traversing through the deadly obstacle maze in representation for her school.

Those two words that she had said…they crushed her more than she knew.

I can't.

"You can't what!" Fleur's mind screamed in agony as she clenched her fists and grit her teeth in unspoken denial. No matter how much pain and misery Cho put her through, she couldn't hate her for it. On the contrary, all she could do is love her more. But she had just flattened her hopes, she had decimated them into little, microscopic pieces that couldn't be put back together… what more could she do about it?

She looked up to the darkening sky and witnessed a star die. It may have exploded ages and ages ago, but its light just stopped reaching the earth at that moment. The once twinkling star faded away into nothingness.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each- Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!"

The stands erupted into an echoing, thunderous applause as the hundreds of spectators clapped for the two young champions.

"In second place, with eighty points - Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute! And in third place – Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"

At the mention of the veela's name, the applause seemed to get a notch more intense, probably because of the male viewers. Looking up into the seating areas, Fleur looked around to see if she could possibly find Cho.

There were too many faces. It'd take a miracle to single her out of everyone else in the crowd.

"So… on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three – two – one – "

The tingling sound of the whistle ripped through the air as they both dashed into the shrouded maze. Bagman looked at his stopwatch, timing how long they were gone, as the spectators shouted louder and louder in order to cheer on their favorite champion. He smiled once before glancing at Viktor, nodding his head slightly.

"Go on ahead."

He blew his whistle a second time as the champion from Durmstrang rushed inside, his wand already drawn in front of him.

Fleur stepped up to the entrance and stood up straight. She had to remain calm and in control, no matter what emotional storm was raging inside of her at the moment. Beauxbaton is counting on her, Madame Maxime is counting on her…

"And maybe Cho might still be too…"

She took one more fleeting glance into the stands before Bagman took out his whistle. He raised it to his lips, and then something miraculous happened; Fleur spotted a bit of flowing black in the stands. The more she thought about it, there weren't that many Asian wizards around in their school.

"Cho…"

It was too far to tell if they were making eye-contact, but that's all she needed. To know that she was still in the stands watching her at all, that was what it took. She had renewed confidence, but a pang still hit her heart.

"And now you're off Miss Delacour."

Bagman blew his whistle loudly for the third and final champion. Fleur took one last glance at the area where Cho was sitting, and ran into the mysterious hedges. Whether it was because the sky had turned black, or because the maze was actually enchanted, it had gotten considerably darker.

"Lumos."

Her veela-cored wand tip lit up brightly and illuminated the shadows. It was actually creepier than she had expected, but pushing back the fear, Fleur pushed on. She glanced left and right, hoping to not come in contact with any of the other champions, or an obstacle, but then realized something was wrong.

Why did the ground look like it was moving? She stopped in her tracks and stared intently at the floor. Waving her wand around, everything looked okay in the light, but once the illuminated circle moved away, and darkness swept over, the floor appeared to be… alive or something.

She turned her head and waved her wand away and then something jumped on her. It was a dark, slithering cloud of… shadows? It almost resembled a foot long worm, but it looked just like a moving cloud. It was making its way towards her face…towards her mouth.

"No! A lethifold!" she faintly remembered an entry in one of the care for magical creatures book. It was supposed to be a tropical creature that hunts in the night, and the way it kills is by smothering its victim's mouths so they can't breathe. That's why it was trying to reach her face. If she remembered correctly, it eats the dead prey and is digested on the spot. How do you kill it again…?

She wrenched it off with both hands and threw it to the ground, shining light on it with her wand. Lumos wasn't enough. The lethifold slithered back into the shadows and then camouflaged in with her surroundings. Extreme light, she needs more… oh, duh.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Mustering up her happiest memory, which oddly seemed to be her most painful one too, she let her patronus filter out of her wand. The spectral animal resembled a raven as it flew through the air directly at the lethifold. Giving off an intense amount of light, the patronus passed over the shadowy lethifold and consumed it within its blinding radiance.

What a dangerous creature… it could have possibly killed her if she didn't know how to use the patronus charm. Doesn't seem that safe. She shrugged and sprinted through the maze. The trail gave way to a fork in the road with two possible routes.

"Left or right? Hm… like the old saying goes, go with your predominate hand…"

She jogged to her right and immediately regretted it. At least ten feet long, a Blast-Ended Skrewt slowly twisted its sluggish body around to face her. A dangerous stinger was curled over its back, waving about treacherously as its thick armor reflected the light emitting from Fleur's wand.

"Relashio!"

Red sparks shot out sporadically from the tip of her wand in the direction of the skrewt, but the spell merely bounced right off the protective armor on its thick hide. Flickering embers fell to the floor as the skrewt shot her with its stinger.

She rolled to the side just in time, though a portion of her feathery blonde hair got singed. Soft spots, she had to aim for the soft spots. Eyes…underbelly… all the exposed areas.

"Impedimenta!" she shot it out, intending it to hit the belly, but once again, she missed. It flew right past the skrewt and charred the bushes behind it. The skrewt shot a retaliation blast in her direction, but she was too quick for it and hopped out of the line of fire.

Definitely, her aim, and mind, was somewhere else. She decided to use a broader spell on the large monster. She flicked her wand with her wrist and grinned.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

It was actually quite amusing. Even though it was nearly ten feet long, the skrewt still could do nothing. Floating in the air, it kept stinging the sky as Fleur smiled maliciously.

"Stupid blast-ended skrewt. I hope you shrivel up and die."

She twirled her wrist and the gigantic beast flew through the air and out of her sight. Happy with herself, she turned back around to the fork in the road and went the other way. Running faster and faster, she took a left, a right, left again, straight… and still nothing. Was she lost?

"Point me." She uttered quietly.

Her wand twisted around and pointed to her left. After jogging along the path, she came across a golden mist. The goldenrod haze glinted in the light of her wand as she wondered whether she should go through it or not. Maybe it was poisonous or something…

Then a noise to her right snapped her out of her thoughts. Brown and green bushes rustled, and then a shadowy figure appeared.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Fleur tried to cover the shakiness in her voice, but when she swung around her illuminated wand to see who was hiding in the darkness, she let out a small gasp.

Black hair glimmered in the artificial light.

"Cho…? What… how… what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be in here, you'll get hurt or something!" Fleur rushed over to the girl and then let out a small cry as a hand collided with her face.

Dark, insanely cruel eyes stared down at her.

"Disgusting. Why do you even try?"

What was she saying? Had she offended Cho so much that she would turn against her like this? Fleur was on the ground, nursing her red, slapped face as and continued to stare up into the spiteful, malevolent eyes of the person she loved. No words were formulating in her mind, she couldn't possibly think of anything except for one thing.

"Cho… why?"

She thought it couldn't get worse, but she was wrong. The silence that was hanging in the air like an ill omen made Fleur want to scream at her. A thin piece of polished wood rose up to her eye-level.

"Crucio!"

Pain! So much blinding, searing torture. The unforgivable curse was made unforgivable for a reason. Like hot white knives slicing her skin, the excruciating curse not only felt like it was destroying her outsides, but it also felt as if it were destroying her insides. Her mind couldn't take it. An immense pressure was constricting her thoughts, and she could almost feel the walls of her skull closing in on her brain.

She screamed and screamed, wanting the pain to just end. Even death had to be a more inviting option than this torment, at least that was painlessly quick. The Crutiatius curse was just… unbearable.

And then it stopped.

Fleur regained her senses somewhat and realized she was rolled up in the fetal position on the ground, her eyes wet with the tears she was shedding. So much pain… she was glad it was over for the moment.

Then she looked up at Cho's wicked grin and the pain came back. It wasn't the curse, no, she didn't need a curse to inflict emotional suffering like this.

"Why are you doing this Cho? Do you hate me this much?"

Fresh tears began to roll down her dirtied cheeks as she stood back up unsurely on her wobbly legs.

Cho sauntered up to her, a playful but vindictive grin tugging at her lips. She dusted off the dirt and grime from Fleur's face and stopped barely a few inches away from her.

"I hate you this much."

As if it weren't confusing enough, Cho had to complicate it by pressing her lips against Fleur's. It took her breath away, her eyes closed shut instinctively to the feeling, and her heart began to skip beats, but then she realized something was awfully wrong, besides the fact that she had just been casting crucio on her moments before.

Her lips were cold. They were so cold that they could be considered frozen. And then Cho bit down on her lips, causing her eyes to fly open sharply in reaction, but what she saw made her infuriated.

"Roger? Roger Davies?"

The chaser of the Quidditch team was laughing in her face mockingly. She spat on the ground to get the rancid taste out of her mouth.

"You're wrong Miss Delacour, it is neither."

That voice. She knew it. It was hard not to know it. She turned around and the crazed teacher who had come to be known as Mad-Eye Moody stepped into view. His magical eyeball was swiveling in its socket as he grinned crookedly at her. He pointed behind her and whipped out his wand.

"Riddikulus!"

Roger Davies transformed into a squirrel with a party hat on its small furry head. It scampered off between the bushes and the teacher guffawed hoarsely.

"Squirrels always amuse me…"

Fleur stared at him skeptically. This school sure is weird… She coughed loudly and looked up at him.

"Um… merci Professor Moody, but, you're not supposed to be helping me. It is against the rules, and I truly want to win for Beauxbaton fair in square. If you excuse me, I must keep making my way to the triwizard cup. I shall not speak of your assistance. Farewell…"

Slowly she started walking, but she only got a few feet before he laughed at her.

"Incarcerous!"

Ropes magically appeared. They surrounded Fleur and then tightly whipped around her, binding her and causing her to fall to the floor. He walked up to her and smirked at her with a sinister look in both his artificial and organic eye.

"You're not going to make your way to the triwizard cup and you unquestionably won't speak of my assistance. In fact, you won't speak at all. Silencio!"

Fleur opened her mouth to scream for help, because Moody was obviously not helping her. And now, she realized, that he was nicknamed Mad-Eye for a reason. No noise, not even a little sound came out of her mouth. Sure, it was moving, but nothing could be heard. Death was practically spelled out right before her eyes.

Mad-Eye Moody took a swig of the polyjuice potion that was hidden in his side hip-flask before cackling even more at Fleur's useless antics. He looked at his watch and smiled.

"Well, time to get that Durmstrang boy. A good Imperious curse should make him do Cedric in…" he sneered at Fleur. "Wasn't that the boy that your friend went to the ball with? Or should I say, girlfriend? You obviously got very cozy with her…" he chuckled and walked past her until his figure almost melted back into the shadows of the maze.

"Ah, well, no time to waste."

Fleur could vaguely see what he was doing in the veil of blackness that shrouded around him. A long, thick shadow, most likely an arm, was raised in her direction. She could barely see the tip of the wand, but it was hard to tell. But with a flash of light, she didn't need to think anything anymore.

Perhaps this is what Harry's parents felt like in their last moment.


	8. Epilogue

**(note)** I'd like to thank all the people who have reviewed my story so far, especially ardenz, tdolphing, and alex mort. Now to conquer school.

Eyes of Blue

Epilogue

She twirled the wand thoughtfully in her hand as if she were contemplating a terribly hard decision.

Cho glanced out the window of her empty dormitory and saw nothing but bleak, grey skies and lifeless clouds. She sighed heavily and gloomily looked at the deserted bed across from her own bed that she was sitting on.

That's how the bed was when the year began, and that's how it had finished when the year terminated.

Had it really been so long?

Slowly laying back into the cushiony soft pillows, the flaccid shell that was once a cheerful Cho sank deeper and deeper into the satin sheets. Staring blankly at the austere piece of furniture, she thought back to her fifth year. Nearly a year had elapsed since the Triwizard Tournament, but the memories still hadn't gone away.

The memories of her.

Fleur. Fleur Delacour, the part veela champion of Beauxbaton, could not, and would not leave her memory, no matter how hard she tried.

Cho rolled over on her side and shut her eyes, not bothering to stop the tears from rolling down her gaunt cheeks. She had lost much weight since last year, after the third task. Nothing mattered anymore; everything just lost its luster to her.

Every memory of her, every single, haunting memory of Fleur just kept replaying itself back in her mind. Their first meeting, when the blonde goddess just happened to sit next to her at the Ravenclaw table when there was the welcoming feast. It was a chance meeting, but once those blue eyes had met hers, she felt as if it were more than just luck.

Sharing the room with her at first seemed tedious, due to all of the complaining she had to tolerate, but after a while, her demanding personality became…well, quite endearing. There was never a dull moment with her, and although she gave off an aura that felt tough and imposing, deep down inside she really was a kind person.

Even when it came to the time of the Yule ball, Cho never really understood why Fleur had gotten especially finicky. She realizes now that she was jealous, but of course, it's far too late to fix anything.

It had happened too quickly.

So many words left unspoken, so many things that they could have done together. Right before the third task, the kiss they shared, it felt so right, but it was just too quick for her, and being the idiot she was, she denied it. It was the worst mistake she ever made in her life, and she paid dearly for it.

The shattered look on her face, the fresh tears, it stung so deeply that she had to run away from her. Fleur… her radiant beauty had wavered in that instant. She had opened her heart and offered Cho everything she had, and in return, she was left with a crushed spirit and nothing left to return to after the tournament. The intense dejection and disappointment in her eyes were the last things she ever saw.

In fact, that was the last time she saw Fleur alive.

Retreating to the stands like the coward she was, Cho watched with blurry vision as Fleur entered the maze with the most crestfallen look in her startling blue eyes.

All of it just went so horribly wrong. She was afraid of the feelings that she had felt for Fleur, and by rejecting her it just made them worse. They just intensified.

Cho twisted on her bed, clutching her wand with white knuckles and a clenched jaw as those few moments played through her mind again.

It was impossible to see past the twenty-foot hedges, but that didn't mean she couldn't hear anything that was going on. The scream, oh that ear piercing scream, shattered the unusual silence of the audience. Fleur's shriek had pierced straight through Cho's spirit, for she knew it could not mean anything good. That flash of green that appeared not too shortly afterwards made her heart jump into her throat with worry and concern.

She wasn't the only one who was anxious. The patrolling teachers ran straight to the source of the light and once they reached it, all havoc was let loose. All sorts of whistles began blowing as teachers rushed over the hedges with their brooms to airlift the body out of the dark maze that was its tomb.

Cho wanted to scream because of whose body it was, but no sound came out. She ran down the stands as quickly as possible as the other spectators jumped out of their seats, also shouting as well to add to the cacophony of haphazard noise.

The teachers had set Fleur's limp body by the triwizard cup and began to examine her for injuries.

Not a scratch on her, but with no pulse…

Cho jumped over the fence that surrounded the maze as Professor McGonagall yelled something to Dumbledore that sounded a lot like Avada Kedavra, but she didn't want to listen to what the teacher had just shouted out so loud.

An unforgivable curse? Right here at Hogwarts?

She dashed to Fleur's side and collapsed next to her, clutching her arm and holding on so tight as if she might fly away with the slightest of breezes.

Her pale skin and platinum hair along with her unusually sharp features only made her look more like death. She was not moving, nor was she making any sound. What a horrible way to die… alone, in a maze… and right after Cho had just… a broken heart must be far worse than death.

Madame Pomfrey was running up to them, but she couldn't help, not now, not ever. Fleur was gone, and even when she used to be alive, she never wanted help from the medicinal nurse.

The tears had streamed down her face like a river as some of the professors attempted to pull her off of the deceased champion. It was the most forlorn feeling that had ever crossed her heart, and as if nothing could possibly go even more wrong, Harry Potter jumped out of nowhere with the triwizard cup in one hand and another dead body, Cedric, in the other.

Dumbledore rushed up to the boy as he grabbed his wrist with a dazed look.

"He's back," Harry whispered, "He's back. Voldemort."

The whole stadium exploded into even more confusion and chaos as screams and cries echoed all throughout the stadium for the dead Hufflepuff.

Only Cho couldn't care less. Fleur was gone.

Those stupid professors, they kept trying to pull her off of her fallen friend, but she continued to struggle against them. It eventually took Hagrid to pull her off of Fleur before they covered the body and levitated it back to the castle.

All of it felt like so long ago, but it was just a year. But it took that whole year for Cho to accept what she had felt for her blonde friend. It wasn't because of her veela heritage that made her like her, no, Cho had fallen for her through her own free will. But when she died, her emotions were shot to hell. Summer was terribly lonely, and she slowly turned into just a living zombie.

She only ate when she had to, and as a result, she had lost pounds and pounds of weight. Even her parents worried for her. Nothing mattered anymore. Without Fleur, life had just become more of a hindrance to her.

When the long months of summer torment came to an end, returning to Hogwarts rekindled her pain. She was forced to go back to her same dormitory that she had occupied last year, but it worsened everything. Images of Fleur kept passing through her mind as she could remember every little detail of the girl. Where she sat, her favorite place to nap by the window… everything.

All of the other students thought that she was grieving over the loss of Cedric Diggory, and although she did miss him, it wasn't what they thought. Her heart and soul yearned for Fleur to be back with her, making fun of her, criticizing the food, anything! She just wanted her back…

When Harry tried to kiss her in the room of requirement, she just made of the story about missing Cedric, and she even tried to go out with him to make the memory of Fleur disappear, but nothing could do it. She even went as far as dating Roger Davies for a while just because Fleur had gone with him to the Yule Ball. True, she despised him for imposing himself on Fleur at the ball, but she was desperate for just a little piece of her.

This whole year, everyone thought she was distraught over Cedric. Oh how wrong they were.

Cho sat up on her bed and looked out of the window. More shades of grey, how depressing. Reminiscences of Fleur kept flooding through her mind, and they wouldn't stop.

"Stop it, get out!"

She clutched her head and shook it, hoping the ghostly images would leave her mind, but of course, like every time before, they wouldn't. How else could she possibly get Fleur out of her mind? She loved her, she loved her so deeply, that she wanted to forget her. Sure, that doesn't make sense, but just remembering the French girl and not being able to be with her only made her life miserable.

She picked up her wand.

She twirled it in her hand.

She pointed it at her forehead.

Closing her eyes tightly, she took one last look into her memories. A kiss, some laughter, some insults, and recollections of the times they shared.

But mostly her eyes of blue.

Those piercing blue eyes she first saw walking up to the castle on that fateful cold day outside of Hogwarts; the arrival of the Beauxbaton students and the arrival of Fleur Delacour; her friend, her champion, her unexpected love. But why live without really living? If Fleur was not here, she could not truly thrive.

The only thing that tied Fleur to her was her memories, and the only way to make the pain stop was to make her forget she had ever loved.

Her hand did not shake; her mind was made up.

"Obliviate."

* * *

**[A/N:** Just as a clarification, the obliviate spell does not kill anyone; it merely erases memories. 


End file.
